Italy Reports Fewest CCP Virus Deaths in a Week

Medical staff look at the scan of a patient's lungs at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) hosting the COVID-19 patients at the ASST Papa Giovanni XXIII hospital in Bergamo, Italy, on April 3, 2020. (Piero Cruciatti/AFP via Getty Images)

Health authorities in Italy on Sunday reported 433 new deaths from the CCP virus in the past 24 hours, lower than the previous day, as the country’s COVID-19 fatality rate continues to slow down.

The Italian Civil Protection Department said that more than 23,600 people have died from the virus so far.

It comes as Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte pledged he would provide guidelines on how to reopen the country more than a month after it was placed on lockdown to curb the spread of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus, which causes COVID-19.

“Local representatives have supported the intention of the government to adopt a national plan that will include homogenous guidelines for all regions, which will allow to proceed—reasonably on May 4—with a restart of productive activities,” Conte said Sunday via Facebook.

Two women wearing a protective facemask walk across the Piazza del Duomo, in front of the Duomo, in central Milan, on Feb.24, 2020 (Andreas Solaro/AFP via Getty Images)

And “it’s too early” to talk about phase two of the emergency, said Walter Ricciardi, a member of the World Health Organization (WHO) and an adviser to Italy’s health ministry in an interview. “It’s important not to rush things.”

Luca Zaia, the head of the northern Veneto region, said on April 17 that he wants to relax restrictions before May 3.

“The lockdown doesn’t exist anymore,” Zaia told reporters.

Elsewhere in Europe, the death rate in Spain has also dropped. On Sunday, Spanish authorities reported 410 deaths over the past 24 hours, raising its death toll to 20,600.

The developments come as more than 100,000 deaths have been reported in Europe so far, according to a running tally from Johns Hopkins University on Sunday.

The European Center for Disease Control said the continent now has more than 1 million confirmed cases.

According to a tally posted on the ECDC website Sunday, Spain had the most cases in the region with 191,726, followed by Italy, Germany, Britain, and France.

It listed Italy as having the most deaths in Europe, with 23,227, followed by Spain, France, Britain, and Belgium. According to the tally, Europe accounts for almost half the global caseload and more than half the total deaths.

The Epoch Times refers to the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, as the CCP virus because the Chinese Communist Party’s coverup and mismanagement allowed the virus to spread throughout China before it was transmitted worldwide.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.