Category Archives: Italy

Calls for inquiry as UK reports highest Covid-19 death toll in Europe

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Government’s handling of pandemic under scrutiny as UK becomes worst-hit European country

Britain has the worst coronavirus death toll in Europe, official figures showed on Tuesday, prompting calls for an inquiry into the handling of the pandemic.

The government’s tally of fatalities across the UK reached 29,427 for those who tested positive for coronavirus, exceeding the 29,029 recorded in Italy – until now Europe’s worst-hit country. Italy’s total does not include suspected cases.

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Italians dance and clap as toughest coronavirus lockdown measures lifted – video

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Italians were allowed out as the toughest quarantine measures were lifted throughout the country after almost two months on 4 May.

Around 4 million people returned to work as the prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, appealed to the public in a Facebook post on Sunday night to 'act responsibly'.

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Spain and Italy ease Covid-19 lockdown but Russia hits daily high

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Two of Europe’s worst affected countries begin careful process of opening up societies again

Spain and Italy, two of the European countries hardest hit by coronavirus, are beginning to emerge from lengthy and strict lockdowns as Russia and Afghanistan reported their biggest one-day rises in new infections.

In Spain, where 217,466 cases of Covid-19 and 25,264 deaths have been confirmed, adults were allowed back on to the street to exercise for the first time in seven weeks this weekend.

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France announces ‘progressive and controlled’ lockdown exit plan

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Spain also plans ‘transition to normality’ despite rise in German Covid-19 infection rate after relaxation of restrictions

France and Spain have announced detailed roadmaps for gradual, phased exits from their strict coronavirus lockdowns, with restrictions to be loosened progressively and varying from region to region.

The French prime minister, Édouard Philippe, told parliament the decision to confine the population to their homes six weeks ago had saved 62,000 lives but it was now time to start lifting the lockdown to avoid economic collapse.

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Completion of new Genoa bridge seen as symbol of hope in Italy

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Opening hailed but offers little comfort to families of Morandi bridge collapse victims

On the 14th day of each month, the relatives of some of those who died in the collapse of Genoa’s Morandi bridge tie flowers to railings close to the site of the disaster.

“We live in different places and so haven’t always managed to get there every month,” said Egle Possetti, whose sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew were among the 43 killed on 14 August 2018. “But there’s a woman in Genoa who brings flowers on behalf of all of us.”

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Coronavirus has revealed the EU’s fatal flaw: the lack of solidarity | Shahin Vallée

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There has been little political will to pool taxes, borrowing and spending to support states worst hit. But it is the only way out

The European summit last week was hailed as a moment of truth. In a recent interview, France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, laid out how European leaders had a rendezvous with history and needed to come together, and show that Europe under duress was able to respond with a common voice and with common means to the Covid-19 crisis. By all measures, this rendezvous with history was missed. European leaders in effect agreed to keep calm and carry on.

They endorsed a roadmap to exit lockdown after each country had in fact already decided and announced their own uncoordinated exit plans. In some countries, such as Germany, deconfinement measures are not a prerogative of the federal government and coordinating between states is challenging enough, let alone coordinating with other countries.

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Moscow’s motives questioned over coronavirus aid shipment to Italy

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‘From Russia with love’ package including doctors and PPE criticised as propaganda to exploit cracks in EU

A Russian aid shipment sent to Italy in late March as Rome struggled to contain the coronavirus outbreak has raised questions about the Kremlin’s motives, amid cracks in EU solidarity.

Russia, which has cultivated good relations with Italy in recent years, was one of the first countries to come to the rescue during the early stages of Italy’s outbreak. It dispatched 122 military doctors, personal protective equipment (PPE), ventilators and mobile disinfection machines on cargo planes from Moscow.

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Pompeii ruins show that the Romans invented recycling

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Excavations reveal that rubbish left outside the city walls wasn’t just dumped. It was being collected, sorted and resold

They were expert engineers, way ahead of the curve on underfloor heating, aqueducts and the use of concrete as a building material. Now it turns out that the Romans were also masters at recycling their rubbish.

Researchers at Pompeii, the city buried under a thick carpet of volcanic ash when Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, have found that huge mounds of refuse apparently dumped outside the city walls were in fact “staging grounds for cycles of use and reuse”.

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Italy uses snow cannon to disinfect alpine villages – video

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Snow cannon spraying disinfectant are being deployed in villages around  the ski slopes of the Italian Alps by sanitation workers, as a novel solution to fight the spread of coronavirus. In Val Gardena, firefighters used their hoses to fill a giant tank with diluted hydrogen peroxide.

As the number of new coronavirus infections has begun to decline in Italy, the country is preparing for the second phase of the lockdown, when restrictive measures will be eased and people will, in stages, begin to return to normal activities. 

Italy has the highest death toll in Europe from coronavirus, with almost 190,000 people infected and more than 25,000 fatalities.

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How do teenagers live in lockdown? – photo essay

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Jean-Marc Caimi and Valentina Piccinni investigated how Italian teenagers were coping with the coronavirus lockdown, working with them to take pictures using video chat apps

Some can’t wait to go out again, others don’t really want to, happy to stay home connected to the outside world only through their computer. Some are worried about the virus and others, instead, are more concerned about the climate crisis.

To give an answer to this important question, we adopted the same means teenagers use to study and communicate within their community. Zoom, Skype, WhatsApp … these video chats were our eyes to take the pictures, remotely.

Teens (and their parents) allowed us to take snapshots using the camera of their computers, tablets or mobile phones, at home, in their bedroom or where they are spending the quarantine, while they study, read, chat, play music, watch TV or exercise.

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Coronavirus delivers a ‘moment of truth’ on the meaning of the EU

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The issue of recovery funds shapes up as an acid test of commitment to the union

The EU’s anxious debate over the bloc’s economic response to the coronavirus pandemic is at heart about the nature and competing visions of the union.

It is a perennial question found lurking in the background of all EU negotiations over long-term budgets, not least the most recent inconclusive and toxic talks in which north was pitted against south.

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Italy: dozens of mafia bosses could be released due to coronavirus

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Critics fear reported move would mean ‘the mafia virus on the streets alongside Covid-19’

Dozens of mafia bosses could be released from prisons across Italy due to the risk of Covid-19 infection, after Italian judges set free at least three ageing mobsters, placing them under house arrest.

News magazine L’Espresso on Wednesday reported that a judge in Milan had ordered the release of one of the most influential bosses of Cosa Nostra, Francesco Bonura, 78, who was serving a 23-year sentence. The terms of Bonura’s release to house arrest allow his movement for health-related appointments.

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Milan seeks to prevent post-crisis return of traffic pollution

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Coronavirus-hit Lombardy city will turn 35km of streets over to cyclists and pedestrians

Milan is to introduce one of Europe’s most ambitious schemes reallocating street space from cars to cycling and walking, in response to the coronavirus crisis.

The northern Italian city and surrounding Lombardy region are among Europe’s most polluted, and have also been especially hard hit by the Covid-19 outbreak.

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Life and death with a coronavirus ambulance volunteer in Milan – video

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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

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Just when Italy really needed some unity, the EU failed it – and continues to do so

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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.

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Coronavirus live news: Europe fatalities pass 100,000, but death rate slows in Spain and Netherlands

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Saudia Arabia religious body urges all Muslims to pray at home during Ramadan; Spanish PM seeks lockdown extension

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.

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Suppliers ration stocks of tinned tomatoes after surge in demand

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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.

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Coronavirus ‘under control’ in Germany, as some countries plan to relax lockdowns

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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.

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Coronavirus: EU offers Italy ‘heartfelt apology’ over response – video

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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'

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EU offers ‘heartfelt apology’ to Italy over coronavirus response

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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.

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