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Italy reported fewer nationwide deaths from the coronavirus on Monday than it has had since early March, confirming slightly less than 100 additional fatalities compared with Sunday's total.
According to the Ministry of Health, Italy's death toll from the respiratory illness increased by 99 between Sunday and Monday, continuing a steady decline in single-day fatality reports during the past several weeks.
The latest figure marked a significant milestone for the European country hit hardest by the pandemic. Italy had recorded daily deaths in considerably higher quantities than other European nation since the start of the global outbreak. Before Monday, Italy's single-day fatality count had not fallen below 100 since March 11, when 41 new deaths were confirmed.
Monday's number follows a downward trend in Italy's outbreak curve, with regard to both new fatality reports as well as positive cases. Data published by the Ministry of Health noted that almost twice as many people had recovered from the virus as the number of those still infected, with 66,533 active cases confirmed, compared with 127,326 recoveries.
Of all 225,886 positive cases reported in Italy since late February, at least 32,007 people have died as of Monday afternoon. More than 87 percent died before the start of May, following an initial surge in fatalities reported throughout the latter weeks of March. Italy confirmed its first death from the virus on February 25. By March 31, the death toll was greater than 12,000.
That toll was the world's highest until it was surpassed by the United States in mid-April. One month later, the U.S. death toll exceeded Italy's by nearly 300 percent. As of Monday, 90,193 U.S. residents have died from the virus, according to a Johns Hopkins University tracker. Deaths in the United Kingdom, which totaled 34,876 on Monday, have also risen above Italy's figures.
The recent downturn in Italy's outbreak curve, as well as intentions to revitalize the nation's economy, has prompted government leaders to lift lockdown restrictions that had been in place for more than two months. Following an announcement from Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, restaurants, salons and retail stores were permitted to resume operations on Monday, with additional protocols in place to promote ongoing virus mitigation efforts. Fitness facilities and other public recreation centers will follow on May 25, and travelers will be allowed to enter Italy from other areas of the European Union without undergoing quarantine after June 3. Theaters will remain closed through June 15.
As Newsweek previously reported, Conte acknowledged that reopening Italy meant "facing a calculated risk in the knowledge that the contagion curve may rise again." Italy was the first European country to impose a nationwide lockdown in response to the pandemic and did not begin to relax restrictions until May 4, when public parks reopened, funeral services could take place with fewer than 15 people present, and residents were permitted to travel within their own regions.
