12th March, 2020
The total number of cases in Italy, the European country’s hardest hit by the deadly coronavirus, rose to 15,113 from a previous 12,462.
This makes it the biggest daily rise since the virus was confirmed in Italy on February 21.
The Civil Protection Agency said, of those originally infected, 1,258 had fully recovered compared to 1,045 the day before.
Some 1,153 people were in intensive care against a previous 1,028.
The country was put under an unprecedented lockdown on Monday in a desperate attempt to control the spread of coronavirus.
Yesterday Italy took the drastic step to close all shops except pharmacies and food outlets.
Hairdressers and beauty parlors have closed, along with bars and restaurants that cannot guarantee they can keep a distance of at least one meter between customers.
Italian PM Guiseppe Conte said: “We are showing that we can be a great nation. Let’s keep apart now so that tomorrow we can embrace.”
Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio told the BBC the measures imposed in the first area in the north of the country were proving effective.
He said: “Italy was the first nation in Europe to be affected so badly. But I hope it also means that Italy is the first one to leave the emergency behind.
“Our grandfathers were drafted to go to war; we’re being asked to stay at home.”
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