In Milan, hundreds of volunteers are keeping the city’s ambulance services running at night. Matteo is one of them, juggling urgent medical care with life with a newborn son and a move to a new flat which happened a day before lockdown. His partner, Fosca, is a nurse on maternity leave, caring for their baby but due to return to work soon. We follow Matteo and see how it has affected him
Continue reading...Category Archives: Italy
Just when Italy really needed some unity, the EU failed it – and continues to do so
Even faced with another great depression, wealthier EU countries are resisting action on debt that could ultimately keep the union together
Europe’s leaders are worried – and rightly so. The deadly impact of Covid-19 has resulted in a full-scale health crisis. Evidence of the economic consequences of trying to keep populations safe from coronavirus is starting to emerge. The political ramifications are only starting to be assessed – but they could be profound.
The European Union has found itself in some tight spots over the years, but always found a way of muddling through. It survived the financial crisis and will cope with Brexit. But this time things are a lot more serious.
Continue reading...Coronavirus live news: Europe fatalities pass 100,000, but death rate slows in Spain and Netherlands
Saudia Arabia religious body urges all Muslims to pray at home during Ramadan; Spanish PM seeks lockdown extension
- Coronavirus latest: at a glance
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Lockdowns across Europe have had a dramatic impact on air traffic, with 90% fewer flights taking off from the continent’s largest airports compared to a year ago
Wearing face masks, waving black flags and keeping two yards apart, thousands of Israelis demonstrated against prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu under strict coronavirus restrictions on Sunday.
Netanyahu, who denies any wrongdoing, is under criminal indictment in three corruption cases.
Continue reading...Suppliers ration stocks of tinned tomatoes after surge in demand
Supermarkets told to ‘calm the fever’ as UK sales rise more than 30% during coronavirus crisis
Tinned tomato suppliers are rationing stocks to supermarkets after demand in the UK surged more than 30% and threatened to use up supplies ahead of this year’s harvest.
Supermarkets and convenience store groups are understood to be jockeying for supplies as families continue to buy more tinned foods than usual after the closure of schools and restaurants forced them to cook more meals at home.
Continue reading...Coronavirus ‘under control’ in Germany, as some countries plan to relax lockdowns
Health minister says Germany will produce 50m face masks a week by the summer
Germany has declared its coronavirus outbreak under control as it prepares to take its first tentative steps out of lockdown next week, while several European countries unveiled contact-tracing mobile apps aimed at facilitating a gradual return to a more normal life.
The German health minister, Jens Spahn, said on Friday that the virus was under control in Europe’s largest economy, thanks to confinement measures imposed after an early surge in cases. “The infection numbers have sunk significantly, especially the relative day-by-day increase,” he said.
Continue reading...Coronavirus: EU offers Italy ‘heartfelt apology’ over response – video
Ursula von der Leyen has offered 'a heartfelt apology' to Italy on behalf of the EU for the delays and lack of responses from other member states at the start of the coronavirus outbreak in the union.
As the World Health Organization warned that the continent remained firmly 'in the eye of the storm', the president of the European commission said that 'too many were not there on time when Italy needed a helping hand at the very beginning'
Continue reading...EU offers ‘heartfelt apology’ to Italy over coronavirus response
Ursula von der Leyen voices regret as expert warns herd immunity still a way off in Europe
The EU has offered “a heartfelt apology” to Italy for letting it down at the start of the coronavirus crisis as fresh evidence emerged that few European countries are likely to have achieved herd immunity as they begin cautiously lifting their lockdowns.
As the World Health Organization warned that the continent remained firmly “in the eye of the storm”, the president of the European commission said on Thursday that truth was needed to overcome the Covid-19 pandemic – including political honesty.
Continue reading...Coronavirus live news: Trump suspends WHO funding as Denmark begins to reopen schools
US to investigate World Health Organization’s response to crisis; global cases pass 1.98m with 126,000 deaths; France summons Chinese envoy
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Kandahar province went into full lockdown on Wednesday morning as Afghanistan reported its second biggest daily rise of new coronavirus cases in a week, triggered by a surge of infections in Kabul.
Afghanistan’s health ministry has reported 70 new positive cases of Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, pushing the total number of infections to 784.
Most of the new cases were in Kabul, which has so far recorded 201 cases, 31 today.
Kabul went into full lockdown last week, as all roads to the city of six million were blocked and 1,600 police officers were appointed to monitor movement inside the city.
Of the new Covid-19 cases, 22 were confirmed in the western province of Herat, the worst affected area in Afghanistan so far with 313 cases.
The southern province of Kandahar went into full lockdown on Wednesday morning in a bid to contain the spread of coronavirus in one of Afghanistan’s most populated areas.
Germany’s government will extend restrictions on movement introduced last month to slow the spread of the coronavirus until at least 3 May, Handelsblatt business daily reported on Wednesday, citing the dpa news agency.
The chancellor, Angela Merkel, is holding a video conference on Wednesday, first with cabinet ministers and later with the leaders of Germany’s 16 states, who will try to agree on whether to ease the measures given some improvement in the situation.
Continue reading...Calls in Italy to rescue people at sea after fears of more migrant deaths
Politicians urge government to act as EU states are accused of abandoning boats in distress
Italian parliamentarians have urged the government to rescue people at sea amid fears that many migrants may have drowned over the weekend as they tried to make their way to Europe from Libya.
EU member states have been accused of abandoning people at sea after failing to respond to information provided by NGOs that four boats, carrying 258 migrants between them, were in distress.
Continue reading...Half of coronavirus deaths happen in care homes, data from EU suggests
Figures from Italy, Spain, France, Ireland and Belgium suggest UK may be underestimating care sector deaths
About half of all Covid-19 deaths appear to be happening in care homes in some European countries, according to early figures gathered by UK-based academics who are warning that the same effort must be put into fighting the virus in care homes as in the NHS.
Snapshot data from varying official sources shows that in Italy, Spain, France, Ireland and Belgium between 42% and 57% of deaths from the virus have been happening in homes, according to the report by academics based at the London School of Economics (LSE).
Continue reading...Coronavirus: US records 2,000 dead in a day as Italy and India extend lockdowns
Spain to let some non-essential staff return to work, but Italians shut in until at least 3 May
The US has become the first country to record more than 2,000 deaths from coronavirus in a single day, as its overall toll surpassed that of Italy, making it the worst-hit country in the world.
White House experts said there were some signs the spread of the disease may be levelling off, but the US now has more than half a million confirmed infections and in the last 24 hours 2,108 people died. Hotspots include New York, Detroit, Louisiana and the capital, Washington DC.
Continue reading...Coronavirus: who will be winners and losers in new world order?
Are state responses to the virus shifting the balance of power between China and the west?
Andrà tutto bene, the Italians have taught us to think, but in truth, will everything be better the day after? It may seem premature, in the midst of what Emmanuel Macron has described as “a war against an invisible enemy”, to consider the political and economic consequences of a distant peace. Few attempt a definitive review of a play after the first three scenes.
Yet world leaders, diplomats and geopolitical analysts know they are living through epoch-making times and have one eye on the daily combat, the other on what this crisis will bequeath the world. Competing ideologies, power blocs, leaders and systems of social cohesion are being stress-tested in the court of world opinion.
Continue reading...WHO warns of ‘deadly resurgence’ if coronavirus controls lifted too soon
As global deaths pass 100,000, White House adviser also cautions against lifting restrictions
The World Health Organization has warned that a premature lifting of restrictions on peoples’ movements by countries fighting the coronavirus pandemic could spark a “deadly resurgence”, as global deaths from the virus passed the grim milestone of 100,000.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the WHO, said it was working with countries on ways in which lockdowns could be gradually eased, but said doing so too quickly could be dangerous.
Continue reading...‘Roast at home’: Italian mayors’ Easter warning to coronavirus lockdown defiers – video
Mayors across Italy are pleading with residents to stay indoors on Easter weekend as the country prepares to extend its lockdown until 3 May to contain the coronavirus outbreak. This is what the mayors of Bari, Reggio Calabria, Messina and Lucera and the governor of Campania had to say
EU strikes €500bn relief deal for countries hit hardest by pandemic
Compromise reached after Netherlands relents on ‘economic surveillance’ of beneficiary nations
A messy compromise to unlock €500bn (£438bn) of EU support for countries hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic has been struck after Italy’s prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, warned that the existence of the bloc was at stake.
EU finance ministers on a video conference call struck a deal late on Thursday after the Netherlands shifted on a demand for “economic surveillance” of countries benefiting from €240bn of credit lines via the European stability mechanism, a bailout fund for struggling member states.
Continue reading...How coronavirus changed the world in three months – video
In just three months, the coronavirus has turned the world upside down. But how did it play out so quickly? We take a look back to where it all began – from its origins in south east Asia, to its acceleration across Europe and the US. As the infection rate increased and countries went into lockdown, people began to find imaginative and inspiring ways of coping with our new reality
Continue reading...Lockdown keeps casualty figure low as Italian bridge collapses
Two drivers slightly hurt but fall of 260-metre structure revives memories of Genoa disaster in 2018
A bridge on a normally busy provincial road in northern Italy collapsed on Wednesday but, with virtually no traffic due to the coronavirus lockdown, there were just two casualties who suffered minor injuries.
The 260-metre bridge on the SS330 road near the town of Aulla – roughly mid-way between Genoa and Florence – collapsed at 10.25am local time.
Continue reading...UK’s coronavirus death toll: how does it compare with Spain and Italy?
Daily increase in volume of fatalities now puts UK on par with rises seen in Europe’s worst-hit countries
A total of 7,097 deaths have been recorded in hospitals across the UK to date. Although this is lower than the death tolls in Italy, the US, Spain and France, the daily increase in the volume of fatalities now puts the UK on a par with rises seen in Italy and Spain.
Continue reading...Devastated by coronavirus, did Bergamo’s work ethic count against it? | Anna Bonalume
My home town took pride in hard work and enterprise. But a reluctance to go into lockdown might have been disastrous
Lombardy is one of the richest and most productive regions in Italy and Bergamo is its beating heart. It is also my home town: the city where I spent my childhood and adolescence. The province’s million inhabitants are characterised by a strong sense of belonging: to region and to family. They take pride too in a no-nonsense, practical approach to life and a powerful work ethic.
Today, Bergamo holds the European record that no town wants: it is the place where the coronavirus pandemic has cast its darkest shadow. Bergamo is a lazaretto of pain, where the priority of hospital managers is to select only the patients they think will survive. Its undertakers are so overwhelmed they have to ask neighbouring communes to take their corpses for cremation.
Continue reading...Lockdowns around world could last weeks more, officials warn
Spain, Germany and UK among countries to says measures could stay in place as deaths in Italy push past 15,000
Officials from Germany to Spain said they expect the stringent lockdown conditions to stretch for weeks longer as Italy saw its deaths from the coronavirus pandemic push past 15,000 and infections in the United States neared 300,000.
The virus has claimed 15,362 lives in Italy, officials said on Saturday, while the total number of confirmed cases in the country rose to 124,632.
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