RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – In 24 hours, Italy has recorded a further 464 deaths and 2,646 new cases of Covid-19 contagion, but also a drop of 851 in the number of patients with the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, according to a government report released on Thursday, April 23rd, due to 3,033 cured patients.
Since the first Covid-19 case was detected in the country on February 21st, it was the first time that the number of cured patients exceeded that of new cases. In this period, Italy recorded a total of 189,973 infections, including deaths, cured and ongoing cases.
Currently, the country has 106,848 cases, 851 less than on Wednesday, and continues to reduce the number of admitted patients and hospitalized in intensive care units.
New figures
The head of Civil Protection, Angelo Borrelli, celebrated the fact that the number of discharges exceeded the number of new infections for the first time, because since the preceding day 3,033 patients had been discharged, while 2,646 new cases were recorded. “The numbers are particularly comforting,” he said in a press conference.
Of the total number of coronavirus patients in Italy, 81,710 are in home isolation, with either none or only mild symptoms, while 22,871 are hospitalized (a decrease of 934 in 24 hours) and 2,267 are in intensive care (117 less).
Since the onset of the pandemic, 1,052,577 people have undergone one or more tests to determine whether they were infected with the coronavirus, according to official data.
Recovery plans
The government is studying a plan to start reopening the country on May 4th. On Thursday, Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese said she would propose lifting the ban on holding wakes.
She said that “it is not humanly bearable to prevent the holding of funerals for grieving families” and said they should be allowed, even if only for a small number of relatives.
The government is also preparing a mass population testing program to estimate the percentage of people currently immunized against the novel coronavirus.
In addition, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte is working on a reopening schedule starting on May 4th, which could include parks and a number of economic activities, such as manufacturing and building.