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https://scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3064667/eu-raises-coronavirus-risk-level-high-deaths-reach-38
World/ Europe

EU raises coronavirus risk level to ‘high’ as Italy death toll passes 50

  • EU economics commissioner says bloc is ready to deploy all measures to tackle impact of outbreak on European economy
  • Number of new infections in Italy rises to 2,036, an increase of around 20 per cent from previous day
A man wearing a protective mask walks past the Church of St Louis of the French in Rome. Photo: AFP

The European Union’s disease control agency has increased its risk level for the novel coronavirus Covid-19 from moderate to high, EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday.

“The ECDC has announced today that the risk level has risen from moderate to high for people in the European Union. In other words, the virus continues to spread,” she said. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control is providing daily updates on the progress of the outbreak.

Europe has not been as hard hit as China, but several member countries have had outbreaks and the EU is scrambling to coordinate the health response.

Italy has had it worst, with more than 2,000 people testing positive. The Italian Civil Protection Agency said on Monday that the number of new contagions had risen to 2,036, an increase of around 20 per cent compared to the previous day. The new figure includes 52 deaths, up from 34 on Sunday.

“Different member states face different challenges in relation to the Covid-19 outbreak. Italy is facing a situation which is not the same as other member states,” EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said.

Portugal reported its first confirmed coronavirus case on Monday, with a 60-year-old doctor from the northern city of Porto testing positive for the virus, Health Minister Marta Temido said.

The man was likely to have been infected during a stay in northern Italy, Temido said, and he has been in hospital since Sunday evening. His condition is stable, she said.

A second man, a 33-year-old from Porto, is also suspected of having been infected, though that is to be cross-checked against a second test before being confirmed, Temido said. The man had recently been in Spain, she said, where the number of coronavirus cases stood at 110 as of Monday.

Temido said Portugal could see a situation similar to that in Italy, but that it is well prepared for such an eventuality.

Meanwhile, a regional minister in Lombardy, the Italian region most affected by the epidemic, has tested positive for the virus.

The contagion concerns Alessandro Mattinzoli, 60, who serves as commissioner for economic development, the Lombardy region said in a statement.

The entire 17-member Lombardy regional government will now undergo testing for the novel coronavirus, the region said.

Last week, Lombardy President Attilio Fontana said he would self-quarantine after a member of his staff tested positive for the virus.

The number of confirmed cases in Germany rose to 150, the official disease control institute reported in Berlin on Monday.

A 20 year-old man with mild symptoms who was recently in Italy is the first coronavirus case registered in Andorra, the government announced on Monday.

The man was recently in Milan and was hospitalised on Saturday.

The tests conducted have shown a positive infection, and he will remain in hospital for further tests and his immediate social circle will be monitored, the government said in a statement.

A Russian citizen returning from Italy was diagnosed with coronavirus, the RIA news agency cited the health care ministry as saying on Monday.

Another three Russian nationals are receiving treatment in Russia after they contracted the virus on a cruise ship in Japan, authorities have said. Two Chinese nationals were earlier taken to hospital in Russia with the virus, but have since recovered.

Tourists wearing protective masks visit the Milan Cathedral in Italy. Photo: AFP
Tourists wearing protective masks visit the Milan Cathedral in Italy. Photo: AFP

In France the Paris book fair, the biggest annual event of the French publishing industry, was cancelled due to government restrictions on indoor events involving more than 5,000 people.

Organisers said the fair, which had been due to take place from March 20-23, usually gets more than 160,000 visitors.

The EU’s economics commissioner said the bloc was ready to deploy all possible measures to tackle the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the European economy.

Paolo Gentiloni said there should be a “coordinated fiscal response” from European countries. It “has to be very timely. You can’t take it too early, you can’t take it too late,” he told a news conference in Brussels.

“The EU is ready to use all the available policy options if and when needed to safeguard our growth against these downside risks,” he said.

Additional reporting by Reuters and DPA