国际英语资讯:Italy enters new phase after lockdown, as coronavirus claims over 29,000 lives_时事

国际英语资讯:Italy enters new phase after lockdown, as coronavirus claims over 29,000 lives

During this second phase of the emergency, public transports in Rome, Milan, and Naples -- the country's three largest metropolitan areas, respectively -- will especially be in the spotlight.

Wearing face masks has become compulsory for entering buses and metro, and the local transport companies are required to implement the necessary measures to ensure that passengers keep a safe distance between each other.

Yet, for the three major cities at least, doubts remained on whether transport networks have been developed enough to ensure the required safety distance, considering the number of commuters now allowed to moving again.

The task force coordinated by the Civil Protection distributed 26.7 million face masks in the past week, and a total of 165.5 million since the beginning of the emergency, according to Italy's procurement commissioner for the coronavirus emergency Domenico Arcuri.

MORTALITY IMPACTED HARD BY VIRUS

In a separate joint report on Monday, Italy's National Health Institute (ISS) and National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) stated the number of deaths for all causes in the country increased by 49.4 percent in March compared to the same period in the years 2017-2019.

The jump in mortality was largely ascribed to the impact of the coronavirus.

"Taking as a reference the period between the first fatality for COVID-19 (the disease caused by the coronavirus), reported to the Integrated Surveillance System (Feb. 20) and March 31, deaths grew from 65,592 (average in the period 2017-2019) to 90,946 in 2020," the report said.