The death toll from an outbreak of coronavirus in Italy has grown by 743 to 6,820, the head of the Civil Protection Agency said on Tuesday, reversing a decline in fatalities seen over the last two days.
On Monday 602 people died. That followed 650 deaths on Sunday and 793 on Saturday — the highest daily figure since the coronavirus contagion came to light on February 21. The total number of confirmed cases in Italy rose to 69,176 from a previous 63,927, an increase of 8.2 percent, in line with Monday’s growth rate, the Civil Protection Agency said. Italy in an economic strain Italian Economy Minister Roberto Gualtieri said the euro zone’s bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism, should be used to help economies hit by the coronavirus crisis, with no strings attached. Some richer northern euro zone nations have expressed unease about making the fund available without policy conditions aimed at making its recipients more economically competitive.