ROME, Apr 14 (NNN-XINHUA) – The COVID-19 pandemic claimed 20,465 lives, in locked-down Italy as of Monday, bringing the total number of infections, fatalities and recoveries to 159,516, according to the latest data released by the country’s Civil Protection Department.
Civil Protection Department Chief, Angelo Borrelli, explained that, there were 566 new fatalities, compared with 431 registered on Sunday.
Active infections increased by 1,363 from Sunday to a tally of 103,616.
Meanwhile, there were 1,224 new recoveries, bringing total recoveries to 35,435, since the pandemic broke out in the northern regions, on Feb 21.
Of those infected, 28,023 people are currently hospitalised, 176 more from the previous day; 3,260 are in intensive care, down by 83; and 72,333, or about 70 percent, are isolated at home.
It was the tenth consecutive day that the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units showed a decreasing trend, according to Borrelli.
This trend helped alleviate the pressure on Italy’s hospitals, and especially on the most affected regions, which remained northern Lombardy, with 31,935 active infections; Emilia Romagna, with 13,818; Piedmont, with 12,765; Veneto, with 10,766; and central Tuscany, with 6,257, according to the latest data.
RESTRICTIONS WIDELY RESPECTED IN HOLIDAYS
Meanwhile, strengthened police controls ordered for Easter holidays continued through Monday, “also with police using helicopters and drones,” the Ministry of Interior said in a statement.
Restrictions seemed to have been mostly respected. On Easter Sunday, some 213,565 people and 60,435 business activities were checked. 13,756 people were fined for not observing restrictive rules, including 19 coronavirus positive people who defied the absolute ban on leaving their home isolation, according to official data.
The government imposed a nationwide lock-down that went into effect on Mar 10. One month later, Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, announced the lock-down would continue until May 3.
