Italy’s New Virus Cases Remain Stable as Deaths Increase

(Bloomberg) --

The number of new coronavirus cases in Italy remained stable while deaths rose as the country prepares to gradually ease its two-month lockdown as of Monday.

Figures from civil protection authorities released Saturday showed there were 1,900 new cases, compared with 1,965 a day earlier. There were 474 deaths from the virus, compared with 269 on Friday, bringing the total number of fatalities to 28,710.

The daily tally includes 282 deaths from April that were only communicated at the end of the month, the Lombardy region said on its website. Without the addition of the Lombardy numbers, the daily death toll would have been the lowest in more than a month.

Recoveries stood at 1,665 compared with 2,304 a day earlier, with total cases now at 209,328.

On Friday, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte took to Facebook to publicly apologize to Italians for delays in distributing virus-related financial aid and said he was open to a further easing of lockdown measures. Construction and manufacturing activities will resume next week, while retailers and museums are currently set to reopen on May 18 and bars and restaurants in June.

The government is trying to limit the economic impact of the pandemic by restarting some activities and approved an initial 25 billion-euro ($27.5 billion) package of measures in March and plans to fund another stimulus package for the economy worth 55 billion euros.

Still, Italy's retailers association forecast on Saturday that consumer spending in the country will decline 8% this year. Over three-quarters of the 84 billion-euro drop will be due to bars and restaurants, hotels, clothing and shoes and cars and motorbikes, Confcommercio said. Small and mid-sized companies' group Unimpresa projected that 30% of bars, restaurants and retail stores will not reopen as costs to run the business outweigh projected income.

READ: Europe's Wary Reopening Begins With Regret by Italy's Leader