UPDATE - Italy Introduces Mandatory COVID Tests For Arrivals From Croatia, Greece, Spain - Minister

ROME (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th August, 2020) Italy is introducing compulsory tests for the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) for arrivals from Croatia, Greece, Malta and Spain, Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza said.

The Italian authorities' decision was made amid an increase in the number of new cases.

Most of the new cases are found in young people, many of whom have just returned from their vacation abroad, or representatives of compactly living diasporas.

Throughout almost entire July, the number of new COVID-19 cases in Italy was within 300 cases per day, which corresponded to the level of the initial period of the epidemic (late February - early March). Recently, however, the number of those infected has begun to rise again. On some days in August, the number of such cases exceeded 400, and on August 7 even reached 552.

"We must continue to be prudent to secure the results achieved in recent months at the expense of victims," Speranza said.

In addition, the minister added Colombia to the blacklist of countries with a high level of coronavirus infection, from where entry and transit into Italy is prohibited. Earlier, 16 countries, including Brazil, Armenia and Moldova, Montenegro and Serbia, were included in it. Also, at the end of July, mandatory quarantine was introduced for those who visited Bulgaria and Romania.

As of Wednesday, the total number of coronavirus cases in Italy topped 251,000, with 35,225 deaths and more than 202,000 recoveries.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak of the new coronavirus a pandemic on March 11.

According to the WHO, the global coronavirus death toll has surpassed 737,000 people, with the number of cases worldwide exceeding 20.1 million.