Italy saw a significant drop in the number of people dying from Covid-19 on Sunday, with 431 deaths, down from 619 the previous day. It marks the lowest daily rise since March 19 and brings hope that the country has passed the peak of the crisis after suffering one of the worst outbreaks worldwide.
Italy’s death toll stands at 19,899, the second highest in the world after the US, the Civil Protection Agency said.
New cases are also declining with 4,092 compared to 4,694 the day before. Italy now has the third-highest number of cases globally with 156,000 infections, after Spain at 166,019 and the US, where 537, 016 have been reported.
Coronavirus recoveries continued in Italy, jumping from 32,424 on Saturday to 34,211 the following day as the country prepared to host a digital Easter Sunday mass for Catholics tuning in around the world.
Pope Francis shared a message of hope from an almost-empty St Peter’s Bacilica in The Vatican and called on countries to support the world’s poorest nations struggling to deal with the pandemic.
“Despite the sign of death and fear that we are seeing everywhere all over the world, we have to look at the good all those that are giving their lives for the others,” he said.
“The message of Easter is that life, despite all, will prevail."
Later on Sunday evening, the famous Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli is set to give a solo performance at the Duomo Cathedral in Milan, representing a message of love, healing and hope to Italy and the world.
Globally, more than 1.8 million cases of Covid-19 have now been recorded and 112,242 people have died from the disease.
