The coronavirus death toll in Italy’s worst-hit region has surpassed 3,450 in the last 24 hours after a rise of 360 fatalities in Lombardy.
Ministers in Rome have been forced to plunge all 60million citizens into lockdown, while ordering all non-essential businesses in the country to shut amid the Covid-19 outbreak.
The pandemic has taken a choke-hold on everyday life, with even Pope Francis retreating indoors to make his weekly address via videolink.
But despite Italy’s clampdown on person-to-person contact, the death toll spiralled yesterday from 739 to 4,825 nationwide, marking the deadliest day for a country in the global pandemic so far.
Britain’s coronavirus death toll has jumped to match the number of fatalities recorded in Italy two weeks ago, fanning fears the UK is just a fortnight away from being plunged into an equally grim crisis.
The amount of deaths in the UK yesterday jumped to 233, mirroring the figure in Italy on March 7, and rose to 240 today.
And chilling statistics reveal that the UK’s trajectory is even outstripping that of Italy, which recently surpassed China in suffering the world’s biggest death toll.
Scientists are also forecasting that Britain is braced to follow Italy’s rapid spike in cases.
Looking across the continent, the dire situation unfolding in Italy has set alarm bells ringing in the UK which was far slower to enforce robust distancing measures.
Chilling statistics reveal that the UK’s trajectory is even outpacing that of Italy, prompting the government and scientists to double down on their calls for social distancing.
The outbreak has taken a choke-hold on everyday life, with even Pope Francis retreating indoors to make his weekly address via videolink as St Peter’s square lies empty (pictured)
The UK’s death toll rose to 233 on Saturday, which is the exact same number of fatalities experienced by Italy on March 7. The numbers indicate the day from the first death in Italy, which was February 21’Social distancing is crucial’: Expert on UK being behind ItalyLoaded: 0%Progress: 0%0:00PreviousPlaySkipMuteCurrent Time0:00/Duration Time0:29FullscreenNeed Text
Professor Francois Balloux, from University College London, forecast the UK was braced to go the same way as Italy.
He said: ‘The trajectory of the epidemic in the UK is so far roughly comparable to the one in Northern Italy, but with the epidemic in Northern Italy two to three weeks ahead of the situation in the UK’, according to the Telegraph.
‘It is [also] possible that a lockdown strategy similar to the one imposed in Northern Italy may be adopted by the UK and other countries at some point in the future.’
But while implementing draconian isolation measures has not prevented the catastrophic crisis across the continent, UK experts insist that social distancing is ‘paramount’ to fight the outbreak.
Professor Jason Leitch, national clinical director for Scotland, told BBC Breakfast this morning: ‘You can be certain that the United Kingdom is learning as a four-country collective from all of these countries who are working on this.
‘And what we’ve learned, is that social distancing is completely crucial. Crucial to protect you and I, but more importantly crucial to protect our elderly parents or those with pre-existing disease’.
The British government were slower to enforce preventative measures in response to the global pandemic, initially standing firm against a tide of European action which saw schools, pubs and restaurants close.
But as Covid-19 threatened to ‘overwhelm’ the NHS, Boris Johnson has tacked to order an effective shutdown.
The goal, which he repeatedly hammers home at daily Number 10 press conferences, is to ‘flatten the curve’ of the rate of infections so the NHS does not creak under the load of fresh cases.
An Italian army vehicle patrols during a lockdown against the spread of coronavirus disease
The Prime Minister has laid bare the gravity of the situation, and revealed the UK should be braced to be pounded with an Italian-like situation.
Mr Johnson said: ‘The numbers are very stark and they are accelerating. We are only a matter of weeks – two or three – behind Italy.
‘The Italians have a superb health care system. And yet their doctors and nurses have been completely overwhelmed by the demand.
‘The Italian death toll is already in the thousands and climbing. Unless we act together, unless we make the heroic and collective national effort to slow the spread – then it is all too likely that our own NHS will be similarly overwhelmed.’
Yet while the government has begun to mirror the shutdown in Italy, it has stopped short of confining people to their homes.
And Britain is still lagging behind in carrying out testing of suspected cases.
The UK’s daunting milestone comes just days after Italy overtook China as the country with the most deaths after suffering a total of 4,825 fatalities. Pictured: Facilities in Rome, Italy
But the crisis is underlining how health services in northern Italy have been overwhelmed by the pandemic, with doctors describing hospitals in crisis and many medics working from makeshift tents. Pictured: Patent in an intensive care unit in Bergam
When their first cases – two Chinese tourists – were recorded in late January, the Italians scrambled to screen all those feared to have been contaminated.
In stark contrast, while the UK has ramped up testing, typically only peoples who have gone to hospital have been tested.
So while official amount of recorded cases is 5,018, the government last week said the true figure could be as high as 50,000.
The latest official figures released on Saturday showed the number of people across the UK who have died after testing positive for Covid-19 has risen to 233, with 53 more deaths in England, two in Wales and one in Scotland.
Italy was at this stage just two weeks ago but has since overtaken China as the country with the most deaths after suffering a total of 4,825 fatalities.
Italian authorities have been ordering citizens to stay indoors for weeks, with schools and universities shut, shops closed except for grocery stores and pharmacies, and heavy restrictions on travel.
But the crisis is underlining how health services in northern Italy have been overwhelmed by the pandemic, with doctors describing hospitals in crisis and many medics working from makeshift tents.
Earlier this week a visiting Chinese Red Cross team criticised the failure of Italians to fully quarantine and take the national lockdown seriously.
The Prime Minister was eventually forced to close all pubs, restaurants, cinemas and theatres after people continued to flout social distancing regulations but it is not yet known what impact this will havePM Boris Johnson tells restaurants, pubs and bars to closeLoaded: 0%Progress: 0%0:00PreviousPlaySkipMuteCurrent Time0:00/Duration Time6:02FullscreenNeed Text
There have been similar flouting of home confinement rules in Britain which prompted the government’s chief scientific adviser begged young people to stop going out.
Sir Patrick Vallance slammed young people’s complacency and said ‘mixing’ in bars and restaurants ‘needs to stop’ because it is allowing the disease run rampant.
Sir Patrick warned a coronavirus vaccine was still at least six months away and said the only way the outbreak could be delayed until then was if everyone stuck to the Government’s tough new social restrictions.
His plea came after Britons were filmed partying into the early hours in packed pubs and nightclubs around the country this week, defying ministers.
It eventually forced the Prime Minister’s unprecedented announcement on Friday that all pubs, restaurants, cinemas and theatres are to shut in the latest move to combat the disease but it is not yet known what impact this will have.
