Coronavirus: Deaths in Italy up to 2,503, 26,602 infected

(ANSA) - Rome, March 17 - Emergency Commissioner and Civil Protection Chief Angelo Borrelli said Tuesday that 2,503 people have now died with the coronavirus in Italy, 345 more than Monday. That was down slightly on the daily rise of 349 on Monday, which, in turn, was slight lower than Sunday's figure for fatalities. The number of new cases of COVID-19 grew again, however, after a small deceleration on Monday.
    Borrelli said 26,062 people are currently infected with the coronavirus in Italy, 2,989 more than Monday. The rise in new cases of contagions was 2,470 on Monday, compared to 2,853 on Sunday. Borrelli said that 2,941 people in Italy have now recovered from the coronavirus, 192 more than Monday. On Monday the rise in those recovered was 414. The overall number of people infected in Italy, including the dead and those who have recovered, has reached 31,056.
    The government has imposed tough lockdown measures in a bid to stop the spread of the virus, although it could take weeks for the results to show in terms of a consistent drop in new cases.
Lombardy, the northern region hit hardest by the pandemic, almost ran out of beds in intensive care for coronavirus patients Monday, the region's welfare councilor Giulio Gallera said Tuesday.
A hospital in the Lombardy city of Bergamo on Tuesday said it had run out space in intensive care.
The Papa Giovanni XXIII Hospital said all its 80 IC beds, reserved for people in serious condition with the coronavirus, were full.
Sick people needing ventilation and oxygen will be treated "by resorting to the Italian intensive-care network", the hospital said.
Borrelli said the Italian army's field hospital for the coronavirus will be set up in Bergamo.
He also said 50 patients in intensive care with the coronavirus were moved out of hospitals in Lombardy to other regions on Tuesday.