Italy’s COVID-19 cases rise again, infections throughout the country

Italy’s coronavirus infections rose again on Friday, with 393 new cases compared to 379 the day before.

The worst-hit region of Lombardy saw 272 of those new infections, equal to 69,2%. The total coronavirus cases in Italy has now reached 236,305.

“In almost all the peninsula,” reports the Ministry of Health, “new cases of infection have been diagnosed during this week of monitoring.” They have called this “evidence” of how “the epidemic in Italy of COVID-19 is not yet over.”

The Ministry of Health also notes that many of the new cases identified this week would have contracted the virus 2-3 weeks earlier, which coincides with the second phase of reopenings in the country between May 11 and 25. This period saw many Italians returning to work as well as bars, restaurants and hairdressers reopening.

The Ministry of Health has underlined that it is essential to, “remain vigilant and continue to reinforce the activities of testing-tracing-tracking so new clusters of the virus can be detected early.”

Italy saw 56 COVID-19 fatalities on Friday, 31 of which were in Lombardy. The total number of deaths due to coronavirus now stands at 34,223.