Italy has on February 24 announced the death of a 84-year old patient infected with Coronavirus, which brings the death toll to 4, even as the number of people contracting the virus continues to mount.
The region’s health department said it was the fourth death in Lombardy, where villages have been put on lock down and security measures enforced in a bid to stem the spread of the disease.
The man died in Bergamo after he was taken to hospital with an unrelated illness but was later found to have the coronavirus, Italian media reports.
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Italy which recorded its first death on Friday, February 21 has sparked fears that tourists returning from Italy could send the epidemic spiraling across Europe.
The head of Italy’s civil protection department, Angelo Borrelli, revealed on February 23 that more than 150 people had now tested positive for the virus in the country, which has the most number of confirmed cases in Europe.
Eleven towns — 10 in Lombardy and one in Veneto — are on lock down, with some 50,000 residents prohibited from leaving.
Regional authorities have ordered gathering spots, such as bars, restaurants and discos to close.
The spread of the virus has disrupted high profile events including Milan Fashion Week, the Venice Carnival and Serie A football matches which were postponed. Operas have also had to be cancelled as well as closing the famous cathedral, Duomo di Milano to tourists.
Most of the cases in Italy are in Lombardy, a prosperous region in the northern part of the country, and can be traced back to a 38-year-old man whom authorities now identify as “patient one”.
Investigators, there are reconstructing minute by minute the man’s movements over the past few weeks in a bid to trace everyone he could have come into contact with.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan, Kuwait and Bahrain have on February 24 confirmed their first virus cases, with all three countries saying their first patients had recently returned from Iran.
As of February 24, coronavirus COVID-19 is affecting 36 countries and territories around the world and one international conveyance (the “Diamond Princess” cruise ship harbored in Yokohama, Japan). At press time, there are 79,707 cases with 2,626 death worldwide.
