But experts suggest that the peak of the epidemic in the country may be approaching

This article is more than 5 months old

This article is more than 5 months old

The number of deaths from the coronavirus in Italy has passed 10,000 while the number of total cases is more than 90,000.

On Saturday, Italy announced 889 new deaths from Covid-19, as total fatalities leapt to 10,023. But this was a fall from Friday, when the country recorded its highest daily rise in Covid-19 deaths, with 969 new fatalities.

There are 5,974​ new cases of coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins university, 470 fewer than Friday.

Some 70,065 people across the country are infected with Covid-19. While the total number of contagions in Italy, including the deceased and recovered, is 92,472.

On 31 March, flags will be flown at half-mast in cities across Italy to commemorate the victims of the virus.

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Italy’s prime minister Giuseppe Conte warned on Saturday that the European Union could lose its purpose if it failed to deliver a strong response to the coronavirus threat and accused other member states of a reacting timidly to an unprecedented economic shock.

“If Europe does not rise to this unprecedented challenge, the whole European structure loses its raison d’être to the people,” Conte told Saturday’s edition of the Il Sole 24 Ore financial newspaper. “We are at a critical point in European history. I represent a country that is suffering a lot and I cannot afford to procrastinate.”

The national government was said to be considering plans to extend a country-wide lockdown to mid-April.

The Higher Health Institute (ISS) said that the peak of the coronavirus epidemic in Italy was approaching. “We have seen an apparent reduction in the infection curve since 20 March but we are not yet in a downward phase,” ISS president Silvio Brusaferro told the Italian press agency ANSA.