ROME, April 16 (Xinhua) -- The coronavirus pandemic has claimed 22,170 lives in locked-down Italy, bringing the total number of cases, including fatalities and recoveries, so far to 168,941, according to the latest data released by the country's Civil Protection Department on Thursday.
Speaking during a televised press conference, Civil Protection Department Chief Angelo Borrelli confirmed that there were 1,189 new active coronavirus infections compared to Wednesday, bringing the nationwide total to 106,607.
Of those infected, 26,893 or 25 percent of the total, are hospitalized -- down by 750 compared to Wednesday, and 2,936 patients, or 2.75 percent, are in intensive care -- down by 143.
"This is the lowest number of patients in intensive care since March 22," said Borrelli.
The rest, or 72 percent of all positive cases, are quarantined at home, Borrelli said, adding that a total of 61,000 swabs have been carried out over the past 24 hours.
He added that there were 2,072 additional recoveries compared to Wednesday, taking the total to 40,164.
The death toll on Thursday was 525, bringing the total to 22,170 since the pandemic first broke out in northern Italy on Feb. 21.
Among the dead are 127 doctors, according to the National Federation of Orders of Surgeons and Dentists (FNOMCeO), which is keeping a running tally of doctors who gave up their lives in the battle against the virus.
INFECTION TRENDING DOWNWARDS
Also present at Thursday's press conference was National Institute of Health President Silvio Brusaferro, who said that "as we have seen over the past few days, we are in a descending trend" in terms of the epidemiological curve.
In response to a question from reporters about blood tests to detect coronavirus antibodies, Brusaferro said "we know there are many products on the market, which is a good thing, but we also know these are recently launched products, and they are being assessed for their effectiveness, sensitivity and specificity."
The idea behind the tests, Brusaferro explained, is to sample the population in order to find out what percentage has come into contact with the new coronavirus.
"At this time we are estimating that over 90 percent of Italians have not come in contact with the virus, which means they are susceptible to infection," Brusaferro said.
"This means that as soon as we stop being extremely careful, as soon as we are less than precise in adopting the recommendations, the virus could start circulating again in a more intense way."
Brusaferro added that "today we have evidence that the circulation of the virus is decreasing... (due to) the (containment) measures and to the capacity and the will of the Italian people to adopt social distancing and isolation measures."
ITALIANS STRESSED BY LOCKDOWN
Italy's National Research Council (CNR, in its Italian acronym) said Thursday it has completed a national survey into the psycho-social effects of the lockdown.
The survey showed that 44.9 percent of women and 31.3 percent of men are experiencing "an elevated degree of uncertainty about the future."
Asked about the main psychological problems they will suffer if the social isolation measures continue for a long time, 73.8 percent of men and 72.9 percent of women said "distress from lack of external social relations" while 55 percent of women and 47.2 percent of men said "increased states of depression."
Among children up to 12 years of age, the lockdown has caused "distress due to separation from friends (64.5 percent) and from grandparents (47.5 percent)."
Asked how they are using their free time during the lockdown, respondents' top three activities were: cooking (55.5 percent), following the news (49.2 percent), and reading books (46.1 percent).
Four in 10 respondents said they are facing severe financial losses, three in 10 said they will no longer be able to afford to buy food "in the coming days," and one in 10 said they will lose their job or their business due to the lockdown.
Of those surveyed, 49.3 percent were full-time employees and 16 percent were pensioners, followed by students (12.6 percent), part-time workers (9.3 percent), the unemployed (6.4 percent), occasional workers (4.3 percent), and housewives (2.1 percent), according to the CNR.
The national lockdown went into effect March 10 and has been extended to May 3. Enditem
