Coronavirus: Italian medical chief dies as death toll reaches 1,000

By Toby Prince

A doctor who had been handling the coronavirus crisis in northern Italy has died from the disease. Roberto Stella, 67, suffered a respiratory failure on Tuesday after being diagnosed in Como, Italy, according to the country’s National Federation of Doctors and General Practitioners.

The federation’s secretary Silvestro Scotti said in a statement: ‘He was the example of the capability and hard work of family doctors.

His death represents the outcry of all colleagues who still today are not equipped with the proper individual protection needed.’ Italy’s death toll from the coronavirus epidemic shot past 1,000 on Thursday as the economic impact worsened, with much of the country at a standstill and the Milan bourse posting its largest ever one-day fall.

Looking to halt the spread of the disease, the government introduced yet more restrictions on Italians, ordering the blanket, nationwide closure of restaurants, bars and almost all shops except for food stores and chemists.

‘The government is doing its best, we’re in a war against an invisible enemy,’ said Rome delicatessen shop owner Roberto Castroni.

Confirmed cases rose to 15,113 from a previous 12,462, the biggest daily rise in absolute terms since the contagion came to light on Feb. 21 in the wealthy northern region of Lombardy.

In an ever-escalating series of measures to halt the spread, Rome’s Catholic churches were ordered closed on Thursday — an unprecedented move in modern times that will apply to more than 900 parochial and historic churches in the Italian capital.

History was also made in the Milan bourse, which fell 17% for its worst single-day loss ever, underperforming a generally disastrous global market, as investors fretted over the huge, long-term cost of the coronavirus lockdown.

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