Italy’s prime minister to resign, adding political chaos to pandemic

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte of Italy will offer his resignation Tuesday, his office said Monday evening, likely leading to the collapse of Italy’s teetering government and plunging the country deeper into political chaos as it faces a still serious coronavirus epidemic and a halting vaccine rollout.

Conte’s resignation will put Italy back in the familiar situation of government instability, but in extraordinary times, with tens of millions of Italians struggling to stay healthy and get by under pandemic restrictions and a deep, global recession.

The coronavirus has killed more than 85,000 Italians, one of the world’s highest death tolls.