Photo taken on March 14, 2020 shows the closed Ciampino Airport due to COVID-19 outbreak in Rome, Italy. (Xinhua)
The coronavirus epidemic continued to claim victims in Italy as the Mediterranean nation remained in a nation-wide lockdown on Sunday, according to new data released by the Civil Protection Department.
Speaking during a nightly televised press conference, Civil Protection Department Chief Angelo Borrelli confirmed that 20,603 people have tested positive for the coronavirus and 1,809 have died since the epidemic first broke out in northern Italy on Feb. 21.
As well, a total of 2,335 patients have recovered, said Borrelli, who is also the national commissioner in charge of the coronavirus emergency.
The numbers are up from an official tally on Saturday evening of 17,750 people infected, 1,441 dead, and 1,966 recovered.
Of those who tested positive, 9,268 are under home isolation, 9,663 are hospitalized with symptoms and 1,672 are in intensive care, the Health Ministry said in its official tally on Sunday.
Among today's victims was urbanist and architect Vittorio Gregotti, 92, who was mourned on social media and news outlets.
Also on Sunday, President of Campania region Vincenzo De Luca placed the town of Ariano Irpino with a population of over 22,000 under quarantine from March 15-31 after local officials reported a spike in cases.
The spike was due to a party with "over 200 guests" and "the return of 370 people from the former red zones" in Italy's north, where the epidemic first began, according to an ordinance issued by De Luca.
There are 37 cases of infection in and around Ariano Irpino so far, and the first death has occurred, according to the ordinance.
"The situation ... is particularly serious" and could quickly evolve into "a marked expansion of the hotbeds of infection", the ordinance said.
As well, the government is at work to bring home Italians stranded abroad for leisure, work, or study in countries that have suspended travel to and from Italy.
Stefano Verrecchia, the head of the Foreign Ministry Crisis Unit, told RAI News 24 in an interview on Sunday that "we have been receiving six to seven thousand calls and emails on a daily basis" from Italians abroad.
"The situation in each country is changing quite rapidly, and it is our hope that our fellow nationals can speedily return from the countries in which they find themselves," Verrecchia said.
"We are working closely with airlines and especially Alitalia, which has organized a series of ad hoc flights for the return of our fellow nationals from holiday, tourism, or work areas," he said.
The government is also drawing up a fresh multi-billion-euro decree with measures ranging from aid to hard-hit economic sectors, workers, and families to ramping up national production of surgical masks and medical equipment, according to a draft viewed by Italian news agency ANSA.
"We are doing and will do everything necessary to protect and support the country," Economy and Finance Minister Roberto Gualtieri wrote on Twitter.
"Italy is stronger than #COVID-19. These are decisive hours for the decree to safeguard the public health system, families, jobs, and businesses. No one will be left behind. United, we will make it," Gualtieri wrote.
Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said on Facebook on Sunday that "today we unblocked the possibility of importing (medical) equipment from France and Germany".
Italy on Jan. 31 declared a six-month state of emergency due to the coronavirus pandemic. And a nationwide lockdown has been placed since March 10 until April 3 to stem the spread of the virus.
