Italian coronavirus deaths rise to 29, number of cases climbs above 1,000

The total accumulated number of confirmed cases had risen to 1,128.

By REUTERS
Tourists wear protective masks in Saint Mark's Square in Venice as Italy battles a coronavirus outbreak, Venice, Italy, February 27, 2020 (photo credit: REUTERS/MANUEL SILVESTRI)
Tourists wear protective masks in Saint Mark's Square in Venice as Italy battles a coronavirus outbreak, Venice, Italy, February 27, 2020
(photo credit: REUTERS/MANUEL SILVESTRI)
Eight more people have died in Italy from coronavirus, the civil protection agency said on Saturday, bringing the total to 29, while the number of those testing positive for the illness jumped by some 240 over the last 24 hours.
The head of the Civil Protection Agency said the total accumulated number of confirmed cases had risen to 1,128. That figures includes some 50 people who have recovered and the 29 deaths.
Coronavirus was confirmed in an Israeli who was vacationing in Italy and returned on Sunday.
The person will be kept under quarantine at the Sheba Medical Center. He reportedly complained of high fever and everyone who came in contact with the person has been contacted and placed under quarantine at home.
He had traveled on El Al flight no. 382 from Italy to Israel that arrived in the country on Sunday at 4:10 p.m.
Schools and universities will stay closed for a second consecutive week in three northern Italian regions in an effort to contain the outbreak, the head of the Emilia Romagna region said on Saturday.
Stefano Bonaccini wrote on Facebook that besides his own region, educational centers in the neighboring Lombardy and Veneto would remain shuttered on the advice of the government, dashing any hopes of a swift return to normality in Italy.
With an emergency decree passed at a meeting in the headquarters of Italy's civil protection agency, the government adopted special powers to be able to stop people from leaving or entering the affected areas.
Relevant ministers will also be able to halt sports events and school trips outside those areas.
"I've wondered myself why [there are not] so many cases in Italy... and the answer is in the rigorous and meticulous controls our country has adopted from the start," Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said at a late night press conference.
Italy's first victim was a 76-year-old woman who was found dead at her home 50 km. (30 miles) south of Milan on Thursday and tested positive for the coronavirus.
Fashion designer Giorgio Armani said his fashion show on Saturday would take place in an empty theater without any press or buyers present to safeguard their health.
The outbreak originated in Codogno, a small town southeast of Milan where Lombardy's first infected patient, a 38-year-old man now in stable condition, was treated.
"All those who have tested positive are people who on February 18-19 had contacts with the emergency room and the hospital of Codogno," Regional Health Councillor Giulio Gallera said.
Americans should reconsider travel to Italy due to a coronavirus outbreak there, the US State Department said on Friday.
"Many cases of COVID-19 have been associated with travel to or from mainland China or close contact with a travel-related case, but sustained community spread has been reported in Italy," the department said.