Italy Drops in Coronavirus Cases

Health officials in Italy have reported a drop in active coronavirus cases for the first time since February. The difference was as small as just 20 cases, however, it also accompanied the lowest number of new coronavirus cases in over a month. Italy’s Civil Protection Agency reported that there was a total of 181,228 people that had contracted COVID-19 (as of Monday, April 20, 2020).

The Associated Press reported on Tuesday that Italy’s commissioner for the COVID-19 emergency, Domenico Arcuri, said: “This gives us the strength to go forward.” Other positive stats for Italy include: the country had 127 fewer coronavirus patients in hospitals as of Monday, they had 62 fewer people in ICUs, and 1,822 people were reported “recovered” from the coronavirus, which increased the number of total patients recovered to nearly 49,000.

Italian health officials have also reported 2,256 new COVID-19 cases this week, which fortunately has been the lowest figure since early March. So far, 24,114 people have died from COVID-19 in Italy, which is second only to the U.S., which has had more than 42,000 COVID-19 related deaths. According to CIA World Factbook data, Italy’s population is equal to roughly 19% of the U.S. population: about 62 million people. Italians will continue to live under lockdown conditions until at least May 3^rd. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said Tuesday that he is working on plans for the next phase of restrictions to be released later this week.