Italian Health Minister Says Coming Weeks 'Will Be Tough' As Infections Rise - Reports

Sumaira FH Published March 01, 2021 | 07:50 PM

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 01st March, 2021) The battle against the pandemic is yet not over and will require more effort in the upcoming weeks, Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza warned on Monday in the light of the growing rates of the COVID-19 infection in the country.

"It would be nice to say that everything is over and we are in a new phase but the biggest responsibility of those who represent the public institutions is to say things as they are," Speranza was cited as saying by the ANSA news agency.

He added that the coming weeks "will be tough" despite the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination campaign and some positive dynamics.

"The contagion curve is going up in a significant way and so we still need to battle with energy ... Signals that the curve is rising are coming from all the regions," the news agency quoted Speranza.

The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection has been on the rise for the past few days in Italy, averaging slightly under 20,000 new cases a day. The total number of infected people since the start of the pandemic has reached 2.9 million, 97,000 of them died.

The mass vaccination campaign in Italy started in December but over 1.4 million people have so far received both shots.