Enna, Comune in Sicily, Italy

Rome, March 17 The number of active coronavirus cases in Italy has reached 24,747, but theincrease was at its slowest pace since March 1, signalling the start of a tipping point for the outbreak in the country, deemed as the epicentre of the pandemic in Europe.The Civil Protection officials said the total number of new cases between Sunday and Monday was 2,470, down from 2,853 between Saturday and Sunday, reports Xinhua news agency."We are missing some data and so the final tally may change, but we can say there is a decrease in the rate of increase," said Angelo Borrelli, head of Italy's Civil Protection Department."We are looking at this figure on the rate of increase with a great deal of attention. It is a sign of how much the measures are making an impact."Borrelli predicted a "consolidation" of the data in the next two days, meaning that it will start to reinforce the slowing trend."The hope is that we will continue to see a slowdown in the rate of increase and then we can be even more sure our country has taken an important step forward," he said."Today's data reflects the contagion rate from 12 to 14 days ago," Franco Locatelli, president of Italy's Higher Council of Health, said on Monday."We will have to wait a few more days to see a more complete reduction in the number of infected subjects and, more importantly, a marked reduction in the number of patients under intensive care."Among the other data released Monday, officials revealed that the death toll rose to 2,158 compared to 1,809 a day earlier. The number of cured individuals was 2,749, up from 2,335 previously.Of those ill, 10,197 were in isolation at home, 11,025 hospitalized with symptoms, and 1,851 in intensive care.Those figures are all up from 9,268, 9,663, and 1,672, respectively.With 23,073 active cases of coronavirus, Italy is the hardest-hit country outside China.The 2,158 deaths from the virus in Italy is also second only to the total in China.( With inputs from IANS )

EnnaFOLLOW

Enna, Latest News

Over 1,00,000 people across Europe have tested positive for COVID-19 so far, prompting European governments to unleash fresh measures. ...

The death toll from the coronavirus outbreak in Italy crossed 3400 on Thursday, surpassing the fatalities due to the infection in China, where the deadly virus originated last year. ...

Coronavirus-ravaged Italy, which had recorded 300 plus deaths for three days running from Sunday, on Wednesday hit a new high of 475 deaths in the last 24 hours. ...

Three people from Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan have tested positive for coronavirus on Wednesday, state Health Minister Raghu Sharma said. ...

Blaise Matudi has become the second Juventus player to test positive for coronavirus. ...

Italy, Europe's worst coronavirus-hit country and the world's second after China, on Tuesday reported a further 345 deaths in the past 24 hours. ...

As revealed by a Twitter video, an Italian man was recently spotted using extreme social distancing measures to safeguard himself from the deadly coronavirus. ...

The number of active coronavirus cases in Italy has reached 24,747, but the ...