Italy's toll jumps after non-hospital deaths added in

Italy's death toll jumped Saturday by the highest number since April 21, after previously uncounted deaths outside hospitals were added in.

The 474 fatalities reported by the civil protection service took the Mediterranean country's total since February to 28,710, second only to the United States.

But the toll included 282 uncounted deaths in April that Milan's Lombardy region said it had reported to the civil protection service on Saturday.

The northern region recorded most of Italy's initial deaths, and its toll now accounts for just under half of the country's total.

Italy's real number of fatalities is believed to be substantially higher than the official figure because few deaths in care homes or in the community are reported.

The elderly in care homes are often not tested for the virus, and the number of people who have died of the illness at home is unknown.

Italy's general trends two days before it begins gradually rolling back its lockdown on Monday were positive.

The 192 new deaths were the lowest since March 14, and the number of new virus infections stood at 1,900, about a third of the number at the peak of the crisis.

© 2020 AFP