Chinanews, March 19, according to Euronet, citing EUN News Agency, on the 18th local time, the Italian Ministry of Civil Defense reported 24,935 new confirmed cases of new crown and 423 deaths.
As of 18:00 on the 18th, the cumulative number of confirmed cases nationwide in Italy has increased to 3,306,711, with 103,855 deaths.
On March 15, local time, in Rome, Italy, people walked past closed bars and restaurants.
Italy held a national mourning on the 18th to pay a silent tribute to the people who died in the epidemic; the country will restart AstraZeneca vaccination; Italy found that a pet cat was infected with the mutant new crown virus.
Italy hosts national mourning
According to reports, Italian President Mattarella formally approved a bill passed by the Congress on March 17, setting March 18 each year as the "New Crown Victims' Memorial Day."
On March 18, Italy held a national mourning event. National public buildings including the Italian Presidential Palace and the Prime Minister's Palace were lowered to half mast to pay tribute to the dead in the epidemic.
On the morning of the 18th, Italian Prime Minister Draghi made a special trip to Bergamo, one of the most severely affected cities in the first round, to attend the commemorative event.
Draghi said that Bergamo bears the pain of the entire country.
This is a day full of sorrow and hope.
He promised that it will never happen again that vulnerable people and the elderly do not receive adequate help and protection as they did last year.
Draghi pointed out that the performance of the people of Bergamo is a model for Italy as a whole.
Although the current vaccination work is facing many difficulties, the country will ensure that the vaccination work continues. People can't wait to raise their heads again to release their energy and make this country a better place.
Restart AstraZeneca vaccination
Regarding the AstraZeneca vaccine, the European Medicines Agency released preliminary findings on the 18th that the vaccine "benefits outweigh the risks", but it does not rule out that it is related to a very small number of thrombosis cases.
According to the recommendations of the European Medicines Agency, Italian Prime Minister Draghi announced on the evening of the 18th that from the 19th, Italy will restart AstraZeneca vaccination work.
Pet cat infected with mutant virus
In addition, the Valle d’Aosta laboratory of the Institute of Animal Prevention in Piedmont, Italy, recently detected the mutant new coronavirus first discovered in the United Kingdom in a pet cat.
According to reports, the infected pet cat was an 8-year-old male cat living in a family in the province of Novara, Piedmont.
Ten days after the onset of respiratory symptoms in the cat's owner, the pet cat began to show symptoms.
Following the advice of the health department, the Novara veterinary department promptly conducted a virus test on the pet cat and diagnosed that it was infected with a mutant virus found in the UK.
Grigorio, the head of health prevention in Piedmont, said that the virus in pet cats is transmitted by the owner, but there is no scientific evidence that pet cats can again infect humans with the virus.
(Boyuan Huang Xin)