Figures released on Thursday showed 712 new Covid-19 deaths, bringing the nationwide total to 8,215.
Brusaferro said that Italy’s ability to recover from the pandemic will depend on whether Italians continue to obey lockdown measures.
Italy currently has the highest number of infections in Europe, and is third worldwide after the United States and China, according to a tally maintained by Johns Hopkins University. Cases worldwide have surpassed 500,000, with more than 24,000 deaths.
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