Italy reports 578 new deaths, infections stabilize

ROME Italy on Wednesday reported 578 new deaths from the novel coronavirus, fewer than the previous day, bringing the total number of fatalities to 21,645. Infections, however grew 1.1% from Tuesday to 105,418. The number of recovered people climbed to 38,092, while the number of intensive care patients dropped for the 12th consecutive day, by 107, further lifting the burden on Italy’s struggling healthcare system. The number pattern confirms stabilization of the contagion curve. The epicenter of the Italian outbreak remains the northern Lombardy region, which now counts 11,377 victims, more than half of the total. The government is struggling on how to plan the recovery phase and protect Italy’s fragile economic system, as the country faces its worst recession since World War II. After a few weeks of unity amid the emergency, the first cracks emerged within the ruling coalition, formed by the anti-establishment Five-Star Movement and the center-left Democratic Party (PD). The two parties are divided over the use of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) -- the European Union’s bailout fund -- to face the economic fallout from the pandemic. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte -- who is aligned with the Five Stars -- insists saying that the ESM is an inadequate response to the current emergency. He is instead pushing for the issuance of the so-called eurobonds -- a tool based on mutual debt -- as part of a European support package that should shield the weaker economies. The eurobonds, however, are strongly opposed by some EU partners, including Germany and the Nordic countries. On the opposite side, the PD stresses that the new package including the ESM funds doesn’t represent a threat to Italy’s fiscal autonomy, as it doesn’t impose any other budgetary condition than the use of the money for health purposes. Conte will have to find a compromise between the two battling sides, as he has to expose Italy’s position during a video conference with the other European leaders on April 23.