Italy’s worsening crisis: 627 die in 24 hours – 41,000 cases, Italian medical official warns true number likely 100 times that

Italy on Friday reported a record 627 new deaths from the novel coronavirus and saw its world-leading toll surpass 4,000 despite government efforts to stem the pandemic’s spread. The Mediterranean country’s daily death rate is now higher than that officially reported by China at the peak of its outbreak around Wuhan’s Hubei province. Italy’s previous one-day record death toll was 475 on Wednesday. Italy has seen more than 1,500 fatalities from COVID-19 in the past three days alone. Italy’s previous one-day record death toll was 475 on Wednesday. Italy has seen more than 1,500 fatalities from COVID-19 in the past three days alone.

It has now recorded the five highest one-day tolls officially registered around the world. Italian media broadcast pictures it said was military vehicles brought into the Bergamo area to transport away the hundreds of coffins. Italy’s total number of deaths now stands and 4,032. Infections rose by nearly 6,000 to 47,021. The nation of 60 million currently accounts for 36.6 percent of the world’s coronavirus deaths after surpassing China’s total on Thursday. The soaring numbers come despite a national lockdown that drastically limits when residents are allowed to leave their homes. Police have issued citations to thousands of people for being out and about without valid reasons, such as going to work or shopping for food.

Mayors and governors throughout the country have been demanding even stricter measures. Italy’s national government is widely expected to respond soon. For days now, Italian authorities have said at daily briefings that the virus outbreak that emerged in northern Italy four weeks ago could reach its peak in a matter of days and the number of new infections might start going down. “There are so many people walking around who have the virus and who are at risk of infecting others,” Matteo Bassetti, the director of the infectious diseases department at Genoa’s San Martino clinic, told Italy’s AGI news agency.

“The 41,000 cases we are talking about could actually be 100 times higher.”  The Italian government intends to extend a ban on public gatherings and the shutdown of almost all businesses past their March 25 deadline. Regional leaders and city mayors are urging the Italian government to adopt even tougher restrictions such as a ban on outdoor exercises and the closure of all stores on Sundays.  –The Times of Israel

The Italian Army has started ferrying dozens of coffins from the northern city of Bergamo, the worst-hit city in Italy’s coronavirus crisis, to remote cremation sites because local morgues can’t cope with the number of new deaths. A convoy of at least 10 military trucks was filmed passing through the city Wednesday night. They were transporting 61 bodies to cremation sites in 12 Italian towns, including Modena and Parma, the national newspaper Corriere Della Sera reported.

The city’s crematorium, which has been operating 24/7, can cremate only 25 people a day, L’Ecio Di Bergamo added. Funeral services in the city have also been overwhelmed, as Business Insider’s Mia Jankowicz reported Tuesday. There is a long waiting list for burials, and coffins were stacking up at two hospital morgues and a cemetery morgue.  –Business Insider