ROME (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd February, 2020) Italy is reporting a sharp rise in the number of confirmed cases of the new coronavirus (COVID-2019), which now stands at 79, according to the head of the country's civil protection agency Angelo Borelli.
"In Lombardy, we have the highest number of infected - 54 people, 17 in Veneto, two in Emilia-Romagna, two in Lazio (around Rome) ... and one in Piedmont," Borelli said after an emergency ministerial meeting on Saturday.
According to Borelli, 51 people have been hospitalized, with 18 of them currently in intensive care. Eleven of the people infected with the new coronavirus in Italy are quarantined at home.
Earlier, it was reported that the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Italy stood at 66, with 62 of the cases having been registered in the past two days.
Two people, both aged over 70, have died from the new coronavirus in the country.
