Italy warns of new infections brought back by Italians holidaying abroad
Italy sounded the alarm on Monday over the rise in coronavirus cases in fellow European countries after a spike in the number of infections discovered among returning Italian holidaymakers.
"Not to worry [about new cases from abroad] would be unconscionable," Health Minister Roberto Speranza told the Corriere della Sera daily, which noted: "France, Spain and the Balkans... Italy is surrounded by contagions".
READ ALSO: 'Italy should be wary of tourists, not vice versa': The verdict on visiting Italy this summer
Fear over new outbreaks imported by returning vacationers has been fuelled by the much-publicised case of 30 young Italians from the Veneto region who holidayed in Croatia and returned with coronavirus at the start of August.
Meanwhile in Tuscany a dozen young people who returned from a trip to the Greek island of Corfu have since tested positive, as has the mother of one of the group.
As well as banning non-essential travel from most countries outside Europe, Italy is closed to residents of Bosnia, Serbia, North Macedonia and Montenegro, while people arriving from Romania and Bulgaria are obliged to spend 14 days in quarantine.
READ ALSO: Italy's latest travel rules, explained
Photo: Filippo Monteforte/AFP
Though the first European country to be hit hard by the virus back in February, Italy has since reaped the rewards of a strict nationwide lockdown and social distancing policy. On Sunday it reported just two deaths from the virus.
Case numbers are rising, however, with 463 new infections reported over a 24-hour period.
READ ALSO: Italy warns of uptick in coronavirus infections as reproduction number rises
But that is a markedly better performance than that of Spain -- which leads the way in the number of new infections recorded over the past two weeks, followed by Romania, France, Germany, Britain and Poland.
"We have to be ready: over the next two weeks, the number of contagions on their return [from abroad] will increase," Rodolfo Punzi, director of the infectious diseases department at Naples' Cotugno hospital, told the Stampa daily.
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"Not to worry [about new cases from abroad] would be unconscionable," Health Minister Roberto Speranza told the Corriere della Sera daily, which noted: "France, Spain and the Balkans... Italy is surrounded by contagions".
READ ALSO: 'Italy should be wary of tourists, not vice versa': The verdict on visiting Italy this summer
Fear over new outbreaks imported by returning vacationers has been fuelled by the much-publicised case of 30 young Italians from the Veneto region who holidayed in Croatia and returned with coronavirus at the start of August.
Meanwhile in Tuscany a dozen young people who returned from a trip to the Greek island of Corfu have since tested positive, as has the mother of one of the group.
As well as banning non-essential travel from most countries outside Europe, Italy is closed to residents of Bosnia, Serbia, North Macedonia and Montenegro, while people arriving from Romania and Bulgaria are obliged to spend 14 days in quarantine.
READ ALSO: Italy's latest travel rules, explained
Photo: Filippo Monteforte/AFP
Though the first European country to be hit hard by the virus back in February, Italy has since reaped the rewards of a strict nationwide lockdown and social distancing policy. On Sunday it reported just two deaths from the virus.
Case numbers are rising, however, with 463 new infections reported over a 24-hour period.
READ ALSO: Italy warns of uptick in coronavirus infections as reproduction number rises
But that is a markedly better performance than that of Spain -- which leads the way in the number of new infections recorded over the past two weeks, followed by Romania, France, Germany, Britain and Poland.
"We have to be ready: over the next two weeks, the number of contagions on their return [from abroad] will increase," Rodolfo Punzi, director of the infectious diseases department at Naples' Cotugno hospital, told the Stampa daily.
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