Two of the countries that have been the hardest-hit by the coronavirus pandemic are starting to show signs of containing the growth of the virus. On Sunday, Italy recorded the lowest number of daily deaths in two weeks while Spain saw the number of new deaths and new cases drop for three days straight.
According to the Spanish health ministry, the total deaths in the country are now at 12,418, the highest in the world after Italy (at 15,362). With 674 fatalities on Sunday, this was still a drop from the record 950 seen on Thursday. Likewise, the number of new infections rose 4.8 per cent to 130,759—down from the 8.2 per cent increase seen on April 1 and the 14 per cent increase seen ten days ago.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Saturday said, “We are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.”
In Italy, the daily death toll was the lowest the country had seen in over two weeks, at 525. The last time fatalities were at this level was on March 19 when 427 were recorded. Similarly, Italy saw a decline in the number of non-critical COVID-19 patients receiving hospital care, from 29,019 to 28,949.
The total number of new cases went up by 4,316—a large amount, but the lowest increase in five days, according to Silvio Brusaferro, head of the Istituto Superiore di Sanit, Italy’s top health institute. Speaking to Reuters, he said, “The curve has reached a plateau and begun to descend," adding that this was a result “that we have to achieve day after day”. He said, “if this is confirmed, we need to start thinking about the second phase and keep down the spread of this disease.”
