475 deaths in Italy in just a single day
ITALY’S death toll rose by 475 to nearly 3,000 last night – the highest one-day figure since coronavirus broke out in China last year.
It means Italy, the epicentre of the crisis sweeping Europe, is expected to overtake China as the country with the highest death toll in the world within days.
China has recorded 3,237 fatalities compared to Italy’s 2,978. The figure also puts Europe firmly at the centre of the epidemic, with more deaths taking place in the bloc than Asia.
The situation has escalated so dramatically in recent days that Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, who put his country in lockdown last week, described the pandemic as a ‘socio-economic tsunami’ sweeping the continent. Italy also recorded 4,207 new infections yesterday, taking the total to 35,713. China claims it has had 80,894 infections.
Meanwhile, Italian authorities have charged more than 40,000 citizens with violating the lockdown imposed by Mr Conte last Monday, which bans them from leaving their homes for nonessential trips.
Police stopped and checked 700,000 between March 11 and 17, finding 43,000 had violated the orders, which have also seen restaurants, bars and most public spaces shut.
Yesterday Italians, who are banned from leaving their homes for non-essential trips until April 3, were warned the measures could be extended.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel issued a dramatic appeal yesterday for Germans to heed her emergency measures.
She said: ‘The situation is serious. Take it seriously. Not since German reunification, no, not since the Second World War has our country faced a challenge that depends so much on our collective solidarity.’
Although her 15 years in office have been marked by blows such as the financial crisis, the 2015 refugee crisis and Brexit, the veteran leader has never taken to the airwaves to address citizens directly other than in traditional New Year’s greetings. She added: ‘I truly believe we can succeed in this task, if all citizens truly understand their own tasks.’
Germany saw nearly 2,600 new
‘Our society is in a war’
cases yesterday, sending the total to more than 11,970. But it has managed to keep the death toll down to 28.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez warned ‘the worst is yet to come’ as his country’s toll also soared, with 2,000 new infections taking the total to 13,910. It recorded 90 more deaths bringing the country’s total of 623. Mr Sanchez told citizens: ‘Our society, which had grown used to changes that expand our possibilities of knowledge, health and life, now finds itself in a war to defend all we have taken for granted.’
Spain ordered all hotels to close, potentially stranding thousands of Britons on holiday.
France, which began a lockdown on Tuesday, said it will only know after eight to 12 days whether it is working. Deaths there went up by 89 to 264.