Newt Gingrich: I Am in Italy Amid the Coronavirus Crisis. America Must Act Now—and Act Big; Italy Reports 3,590 More Coronavirus Cases, Its Biggest One-Day Increase; Austria Announces Major Restrictions on Movement
By Newsweek. The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic poses two threats: public health and economic. . .
I have watched first-hand as the Italian government has worked hard to contain the coronavirus by imposing strong public health measures to try to get the epidemic under control. These measures will lead to significant economic challenges. . .
These steps are not an overreaction. The coronavirus is out of control of in Northern Italy. As of 6 p.m. local/1 p.m. EST on March 10, there were 15,113 total cases in Italy, with 12,839 active cases, 1,016 deaths and 1,258 recoveries. And there were 162 total cases here in Rome.
The hardest-hit region around Milan has had to improvise as its health system has been deeply stressed by the sheer number of patients. In Milan and Brescia, field hospitals have been set up in the fairgrounds as the local hospitals have been drowned in patients.
Because the demand for respirators and intensive care has been beyond any previous planning, doctors have been forced into the kind of triage thinking developed for intense battlefield casualty situations. There are reports that emergency room doctors are allotting respirators to those with higher life expectancy due to the limited equipment in the hardest hit areas of the province. If you are older or have other illnesses, you may simply not be eligible for treatment. (Read more from “Newt Gingrich: I Am in Italy Amid the Coronavirus Crisis. America Must Act Now—and Act Big” HERE)
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Italy Reports 3,590 More Coronavirus Cases, Its Biggest One-Day Increase
By The Hill. Italy on Sunday reported its biggest one-day increase in cases and deaths during the coronavirus outbreak.
Italy recorded 3,590 cases and 398 deaths in a 24-hour period, Italy’s Civil Protection chief, Angelo Borrelli, announced Sunday, The Associated Press reported. In total, the country has confirmed more than 24,700 cases and more than 1,800 deaths.
The country, which has been on lockdown since last week, reports that almost 2,000 people have recovered from the coronavirus in the nation.
Italy’s previous record number of deaths in a 24-hour period was 250, which was announced Friday.
Italy’s national health institute chief, Silvio Brusaferro, said it is unclear if Italy is reaching its peak number of cases, meaning it could soon decline, according to the AP. (Read more from “Italy Reports 3,590 More Coronavirus Cases, Its Biggest One-Day Increase” HERE)
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Austria Announces Major Restrictions on Movement Over Coronavirus
By Reuters. Austria’s chancellor announced major restrictions on movement in public places on Sunday, banning gatherings of more than five persons and urging Austrians to self-isolate, as well as putting further limits on who can enter the country.
The restrictions on public movement and gatherings will come into force on Monday, while restaurants are ordered closed from Tuesday, when new restrictions on entering the country will also take effect, a government spokesman said.
“Austrians are being summoned to isolate themselves,” Chancellor Sebastian Kurz’s office said in a statement. “That means only making social contact with the people with whom they live.”
People should only leave the house for work that could not be postponed, to buy necessary food supplies and to help others, it said.
The western region of Tyrol, home to popular ski resorts where Austria’s first cases were reported and where 245 cases had been confirmed as of Sunday morning, announced a total lockdown on Sunday, with its governor saying the region found itself in “the most difficult situation we’ve ever faced in the post-war years”. (Read more from “Austria Announces Major Restrictions on Movement Over Coronavirus” HERE)
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