• March 18, 2020
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Italy’s death toll exceeds 2,500

Italy has seen a new spike in fatalities from COVID-19. On Tuesday, the hardest hit European country reported 345 deaths, raising the toll to 2,503 – the highest in Europe. The Italian Civil Protection Department has pegged total infections at 26,062 as of yesterday, 2,989 of which were new or recorded over the past 24 hours. The latest rise in cases is the highest in Italy to date.

In response to the virus’s spread, Italy has enforced stringent measures, which includes a near-total lockdown of the entire country. The Italian government has also moved to scrap the final exams of about 10,000 student doctors and rush them into service in a bid to support the country’s overwhelmed health care sector.

Additionally, the government has approved an economic package worth $27.5 billion (EUR 25 billion) to support families and businesses during the crisis. The package includes workers’ incentives for those who are at risk of being unemployed as well as babysitting vouchers for parents.

Experts, however, believe that the infections may continue to rise for at least one more week.