The country is considering lifting the harshest lockdown measures as cases plateau.
Health authorities in Italy have said they may soon be able to begin easing lockdown restrictions as the country recorded its lowest daily coronavirus death toll in more than two weeks.
In a ray of hope for the country considered worst-hit by the pandemic, the rise of 525 deaths on Sunday was the smallest daily increase since 19 March, bringing the total number of deaths to 15,887.
The number of patients in Italy’s badly overstretched intensive care units fell for a second day running and officials reported the first decline in the number of non-critical Covid-19 patients receiving hospital care across the country’s 22 regions. That number fell from 29,010 on Saturday to 28,949 on Sunday.
Neighbouring Austria is due to become the first European country to begin lifting its lockdown next week, with Chancellor Sebastian Kurz eyeing a plan to fully re-start the economy at the beginning of May.
“The curve has reached a plateau and begun to descend,” said Silvio Brusaferro, Head of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Italy’s top health institute. “It is a result that we have to achieve day after day and if this is confirmed, we need to start thinking about the second phase and keep down the spread of this disease.”
