Update (1310ET): Italy’s Civil Protection Agency reported the largest jump in new cases in five days on Thursday, dealing yet another blow to hopes that cases might finally be peaking in the current ‘epicenter’ of the global outbreak.
The 6,153 new cases confirmed for Wednesday represents an 8.3% growth rate compared with the prior day. Fatalities from the outbreak saw a slight dip over the past 24 hours, totaling 662, compared with 683 for the previous day. All told, 8,165 of those diagnosed have died from COVID-19.
Here’s a breakdown by region, courtesy of Corriere della Sera, a popular Italian daily newspaper:
Finally, some good news: The number of Italians who have recovered passed 10,000 on Thursday (totale guariti).
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Authorities in Lombardy were all too eager to play up what appeared to be a drop in new cases earlier in the week. But as it turns out, claims that the outbreak might finally be waning in Italy’s worst-hit region – claims that helped prop up stocks not only in Italy, but around the world this past week – might have been a little premature.
According to preliminary reports, the Lombardy region reported 2,500 new cases in the last day on Thursday, the biggest jump in nearly a week.
Of course, health officials in the north might be embellishing their numbers as the Italian government does everything it can to convince the EU to issue ‘coronabonds’ to help ameliorate the financial strain on EU member states like Italy, Spain and France that have been badly hurt by the outbreak.
Governor Attilio Fontana said in a press conference on Facebook “I’m concerned but we need to understand if that’s an inversion trend or just a case:”
So far, roughly 16 million people are quarantined across the region.