Contagion claims life of ‘healthy’ girl of 16
‘Dark days ahead’, warn European leaders, as Italy, France and Spain are hit by dramatic death rate rises
EUROPEAN leaders warned yesterday of dark days ahead as Italy’s death toll surpassed 900 in a day and France mourned Europe’s youngest victim, a 16-year-old girl whose family said had no pre-existing health problems.
There was, however, a glimmer of hope in the worst-affected areas that the infection rate might be slowing, suggesting nationwide lockdowns may be finally taking effect.
In grim news for Italy, the death toll surged by 919 to 9,134, the highest daily tally since the epidemic emerged on Feb 21. The largest previous daily toll was on March 21, with 793 deaths.
The northern region of Lombardy continued to take the brunt of the fatalities, with the total now 5,402.
However, Italy’s infection rate continued a downward trend, with the civil protection agency reporting 86,500 cases – a 7.4 per cent rise, down from 8 per cent in previous days.
Silvio Brusaferro, the head of the superior health institute, said that new cases were “slowing down” but he warned against rolling back the restrictions, saying: “We haven’t reached the peak, we haven’t passed it.”
Neighbouring Spain also saw a sharp rise in the number of deaths yesterday – 769 – a daily record, bringing the total to 4,858. Residents at nursing homes for the elderly were particularly affected. However, officials there also clung to statistics suggesting a “clear stabilisation” in the rate of infection.
Confirmed cases of Covid-19 rose to 64,059, a 14 per cent increase compared with 18 per cent a day earlier and 20 per cent on Wednesday.
That was enough to prompt Fer- nando Simón, the health emergency chief, to say that draconian confinement under the state of emergency was finally paying off.
But figures revealed that of Spain’s 64,000 total confirmed cases, more than 9,444 were health workers, lead- ing to complaints about the dangers to which they were being exposed.
“It’s the highest figure among health workers in any country,” said Pascual Piñera, head of A&E at Reina Sofía hospital, Madrid. “No complaints, we are working 24/7 – but we won’t forget.”
Edouard Philippe, France’s prime minister, hit a sombre note, warning that the country was in the midst of an “extremely high” surge in cases. The death toll in France reached 1,995 yesterday, a jump of 299 in a day. The figure excluded those who died at home or in old-age facilities. The country has 15,732 coronavirus patients in hospital, with 3,787 placed in intensive care. There were 32,964 cases recorded in the country.
France was also reeling at the death of an otherwise healthy teenage girl in Paris, underlining warnings that the new virus was not a threat only to the elderly or people with underlying medical problems. “She just had a cough,” said the mother of the girl, known only as Julie. “She was supposed to have had a normal life.”
It also raised questions over the accuracy of testing, as medics lost valuable time after the girl tested negative twice, and she was at first sent home before being taken to a children’s hospital on Tuesday, where her condition deteriorated rapidly.
For her older sister, Manon, the diagnosis was also a shock. “From the beginning, they told us this virus doesn’t affect young people. We believed it, just like everyone else,” she told the AFP news agency.
Her case was unusual, doctors assured French media on Friday morning, saying she had been hit by an extremely aggressive variant of the virus. But the prime minister warned that France had not yet reached the peak of the epidemic which had overwhelmed the east of the country and was now bearing down on the northern Hauts-de-france and Paris.
The French capital was approaching saturation point, with 1,300 of its 1,500 intensive care beds reserved for coronavirus patients already occupied.
Doctors warned Paris may soon need to move patients to hospitals in less-affected regions. “We find ourselves in a crisis that will last, in a health situation that will not improve any time soon,” said Mr Philippe. “The situation will be difficult in the days to come.” As a result, he said, France’s two-week lockdown would be extended to April 15 and perhaps beyond.
Last night, Ireland was placed under similar lockdown measures to the UK.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said residents should stay home until at least April 12 unless they were buying groceries, getting brief exercise or making essential family visits.