Italy’s coronavirus death toll spirals to 4,825

A man wearing a protective mask lies unconscious on the road near a bus stop in Rome, Italy (DM). 

The coronavirus death toll in Italy’s worst-hit region has surpassed 3,450 in the last 24 hours after a rise of 360 fatalities in Lombardy.   

Ministers in Rome have been forced to plunge all 60 million citizens into lockdown, while ordering all non-essential businesses in the country to shut amid the Covid-19 outbreak.   

The pandemic has taken a choke-hold on everyday life, with even Pope Francis retreating indoors to make his weekly address 
via videolink.   

But despite Italy’s clampdown on person-to-person contact, the death toll spiralled yesterday from 739 to 4,825 nationwide, marking the deadliest day for a country in the global pandemic so far.   

Britain’s coronavirus death toll has jumped to match the number of fatalities recorded in Italy two weeks ago, fanning fears the UK is just a fortnight away from being plunged into an equally grim crisis.   

Meanwhile CNN reported that more than 335,000 people worldwide have contracted the coronavirus and at least 14,641 have died, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. The report added there was a severe threat of global recession looming as businesses downed tools and sent workers home to stop the spread of the virus.   
Italy, (Daily Mail), 23 March 2020 

UK government denies ‘let OAPs die’ charge  

UK, (Daily Mail), 23 March 2020 -   
In Britain Downing Street last night angrily denied claims that Dominic Cummings -PM Boris Johnson’s chief aide- said the lives of pensioners should be sacrificed to coronavirus to help protect the economy. 

 
The Sunday Times claimed that Cummings told a private engagement in February that the Government was pursuing a strategy of so-called ‘herd immunity’, despite concerns it would lead to more deaths among the elderly.

What is the coronavirus?  

A coronavirus is a type of virus which can cause illness in animals and people. Viruses break into cells inside their host and use them to reproduce itself and disrupt the body’s normal functions. Coronaviruses are named after the Latin word ‘corona’, which means crown, because they are encased by a spiked shell which resembles a royal crown.