Italy

ROME, June 15 (Xinhua) -- Italy, along with some European partners, signed a contract with AstraZeneca pharmaceutical company for buying up to 400 million doses of a potential coronavirus vaccine, a top health official confirmed on Monday.

The contract with the British-Swedish pharmaceutical followed a deal agreed between Italy, Germany, France, and the Netherlands in the previous days in order to ensure the availability of the vaccine in the European markets, once ready.

VATICAN CITY, June 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Head of the Roman Catholic church, Pope Francis appealed for an end to the civil war taking place in Libya.

Warring factions continue to battle for control of the country since the overthrow and death of former leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

Pope Francis appealed to both warring sides to seek peace and end the fighting that has led to the death of many and displaced thousands.

The Pope was speaking at the St. Peter’s Square, where he took special interest in the Libyan crisis.

ROME, June 13 (Xinhua) -- Italy recorded 346 new cases of infection from the novel coronavirus in a 24-hour period, but total active infections decreased to 27,485, down from 28,997 a day ago, officials said Saturday.

This came 10 days after the last remaining restrictions under a nationwide lockdown were lifted and Italians were again free to travel within their own country, beginning on June 3. It also came one day after total active infections dipped below the 30,000 mark for the first time since March.

13 June 2020; AFP: EU leaders are set to join Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Saturday for talks on jumpstarting the nation's economy, but opposition figures shunned the hastily organised -- and roundly criticised -- initiative.

Despite a bevy of A-list political speakers, Italians such as far-right leader Matteo Salvini planned to sit out Conte's conference, casting it as a media stunt designed to boost the premier's profile.

ROME, June 3 (Xinhua) -- People in Italy will be allowed to move freely within the country from Wednesday and the travel restrictions were also eased the same day with travelers from European Union (EU) and Schengen countries, as well as the United Kingdom, Andorra and Monaco being allowed to visit the country without subjecting to quarantine.

"A month from May 4, when we reopened our manufacturing and construction sectors, we can say the numbers are encouraging," Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said in a nationally televised press conference on Wednesday evening.

ROME/BRUSSLES, June 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Europe-based airlines are starting to resume services step by step, as countries try to revive tourism, as a way to bring their economies, battered hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, back to life.

Alitalia, Italy’s flagship airline, formally launched long-haul flight from Rome to New York on Tuesday (yesterday), a day before the country opens its borders to other Schengen countries. The eight-hour flight will run twice a week.

ROME, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Seventy-five more COVID-19 patients had died in the past 24 hours in Italy, bringing the country's toll to 33,415, out of total infection cases of 233,019, according to fresh figures on Sunday.

Nationwide, the number of active infections dropped by 1,616 to 42,075, according to the Civil Protection Department.

Of those who tested positive for the new coronavirus, 435 are in intensive care, 15 fewer compared to Saturday, and 6,387 are hospitalized with symptoms, down by 293 patients from the previous day.

ROME, May 28 (Xinhua) -- The novel coronavirus infection trend continued downward in Italy as the number of recoveries jumped by 3,503 on Thursday, bringing the total to 150,604, the Civil Protection Department said.

Meanwhile, another 70 people died, bringing the death toll from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, to 33,142 on Thursday.

The total active infections stood at 47,986, down by 2,980 from Wednesday, according to the department.

ROME, May 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Italy’s death toll from the novel coronavirus in March and April could be nearly 19,000 higher than the official figure of 32,000, the national social security agency said.

The Istituto Nazionale della Previdenza Sociale (INPS), the largest social security and welfare institute in Italy, said in a new study that the official death figures were not “reliable”.

ROME, May 17 (Xinhua) -- On Monday, Italy will take its biggest step yet toward reopening its economy after nearly ten weeks of national lockdown.

Starting Monday, shops, restaurants, bars, barbershops, beauty salons, museums, and beachfront operators will all be allowed to reopen as long as they respect rules for social distancing and disinfecting facilities. Italians will also be allowed to move within the region they live in. But schools will remain closed. The current plan is for them to reopen only in September.