ROME — Deaths from COVID-19 in Italy surpassed the reported death toll in China Thursday, hitting a figure of 3,405 as compared with China’s 3,130.
As of Thursday evening, there is now a total of 33,190 active cases of coronavirus in Italy, a 24-hour increase of 4,480 cases. Meanwhile, Italy’s total number of cases crossed the 40,000 mark (41,035), a rise of 5,322 new cases.
Data on coronavirus in Italy on March 19, 2020.
New cases of coronavirus keep emerging in Italy despite amped-up measures to isolate residents from one another. On Thursday evening, police cars slowly coursed through Italian streets, announcing over loudspeakers that citizens were to remain homebound unless absolutely necessary.
Police cars in Rome are now driving through the streets playing a loudspeaker announcement that you can only leave your house during the #COVID19 lockdown for a few specific reasons.
“Respect the rules,” says the announcement. Violators face a fine or jail. pic.twitter.com/MxCfJXyBJn
— Joshua McElwee (@joshjmac) March 19, 2020
Rome’s mayor Virginia Raggi proudly announced via Twitter Thursday that local police had stopped and questioned 27,000 citizens on the streets on Wednesday, issuing fines to 28 of them.
Raggi’s declaration parroted tactics of the interior ministry in an apparent effort to cow citizens into staying put at home.
On Tuesday, the ministry published the number of stops police have conducted, noting a total of 172,720 such stops on Monday of this week, along with 7,890 sanctions for failure to comply with the pertinent decrees.
In the four-day period from March 11 to March 16, police stopped a total 838,200 people, the ministry added, with 35,506 of those receiving fines, which also carry with them a permanent criminal record.
On the positive side of the balance sheet, the number of recovered cases also continues to grow, reaching a total of 4,440 on Thursday, which represents an increase of 415 cases for the day.
Italy’s ANSA news agency announced Thursday that exponential growth of coronavirus cases in Italy has been “averted,” citing a group of Italian physicists who have analyzed the data on the virus.
The coronavirus is still experiencing “sustained growth” in Italy and will likely continue to do so, ANSA reported, and a significant slowdown should not be expected until the end of the month.
Italy celebrated a subdued Fathers’ Day Thursday, the feast of Saint Joseph, with citizens confined to their homes. Meeting with family members who do not live at the same address has been forbidden unless it can be demonstrated that they require special care.
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