Next seven days seen as decisive for Italy as coronavirus cases surge

This week will be decisive to see if measures the Italian government has taken to tackle the new coronavirus — including the lockdown of entire towns, restrictions of movement and closure of public places — are working, as the government announces more money to tackle the virus.

The official’s comments come as Italy deals with its most major national public health disaster in modern times. Italy has seen the worst outbreak of the coronavirus, COVID-19, outside of Asia and the infections continue to rise.

Many of the cases of the new coronavirus seen throughout Europe have also been traced to Italy with the worst affected regions being Lombardy and Veneto, whose capitals Milan and Venice are popular business and holiday destinations, respectively.

With free movement between the 27 countries of the EU (and the U.K. while it remains tied to EU rules during a post-Brexit transition period), Europe is closely watching how Italy, a country with a fragile coalition government and weak economy, deals with the escalating outbreak.

Italy’s health authorities on the front line are struggling to cope with the rapid increase in coronavirus cases. Last Friday, a virologist in Milan described hospitals in Lombardy, considered the epicenter of the outbreak, as being close to breaking point, in “severe crisis” and registering an “overload” of patients, Italian news agency ANSA reported.

Italy has signaled that it could ask the EU for leeway over its budget deficit, one of the biggest bugbears between Rome and Brussels with arguments over the level it should be. Italy has the second-largest debt pile in the euro zone after Greece, with its debt to GDP ratio at just over 136% in 2019. Italy’s FTSE MIB index was trading 2% lower Monday afternoon.

Next seven days seen as decisive for Italy as coronavirus cases surge, CNBC, Mar 2