New increase in the number of fresh COVID-19 infections has been reported on Wednesday, after 641 new cases have been announced in the past 24 hours. The total number reaches 34,226, while there have been 21 deaths due to the novel coronavirus in the past day. 248 patients are currently in intensive care.
18,440 tests have been processed in the past 24 hours.
Romania might end up on Italy’s black list
Italian Ministry of Health is carefully monitoring the situation of the COVID-19 infections from Romania, Croatia, Bulgaria and Serbia, amid growing trend of the virus in these countries. La Repubblica newspaper reports that there are high chances that Italy puts again these countries on the black list of entering Italy. 13 states are currently on this list.
Italy, hard hit by the pandemic during its first months of the outbreak in Europe, has been under strict lockdown and restrictions in the past 4 months, but it has eventually managed to flatten the curb, with the number of infections and deaths strongly declining.
Yet, the danger is still around the corner after the concerning increase of cases in the Balkans, with Italy being under alert after an Italian entrepreneur from Vicenza had tested positive for COVID following a business trip in Serbia.
Italian health authorities said the man had been infected with a more aggressive strain of the virus than the one existing in Italy.