New York
Italy announced 627 more deaths on Friday, the biggest day-to-day increase in the country’s four-week epidemic, a day after surpassing China’s death toll. The total number of deaths in Italy reached 4,032.
Officials are especially worried by the situation in Lombardy’s capital and Italy’s second city, Milan.
The country’s largest cities had so far been relatively lightly hit by the outbreak, but there are now 3,804 people infected in the financial hub and its hinterland.
The number of new cases in and around Milan rose by 526, or 16%, the largest daily increase for any province in Lombardy.
In efforts to limit people’s movements in the country, parks and public gardens will be shut down and people will be allowed to take exercise only around their homes from the weekend.
Games and recreational activities in the open air will also be banned.
“We must do even more to contain the contagion,” Health Minister Roberto Speranza said in a statement.
COVID-19 has infected more than 250,000 people worldwide and killed more than 11,000 according to worldwide tracking from Johns Hopkins university.
Trump to host G7 summit via teleconference
President Donald Trump is scrapping this year’s G7 summit at Camp David near Washington due to the coronavirus crisis and will instead hold the event by videoconference, the White House said Thursday.The United States heads the group of seven wealthy democracies in 2020 and Trump had been due to host fellow leaders at the presidential retreat known as Camp David in June.Instead, the summit will now take place remotely “in order for each country to focus all of its resources on responding to the health and economic challenges of COVID-19,” White House spokesman Judd Deere said.
Trump’s national economic director Larry Kudlow, who is the US pointman for the summit, informed his counterparts of the decision, Deere said in a statement.