Pakistani national dies from coronavirus in Italy

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani national has died from the novel coronavirus in Italy, a spokesperson of the Foreign Office said on Wednesday.

The 61-year-old Pakistani national, Imtiaz Ahmad, passed away in Brescia, about a 100 kilometres from Milan. Pakistani Consulate in Milan is in touch with the concerned family, as well as authorities in Italy on the matter, the spokesperson added. 

Italy remains at the centre of Europe’s outbreak as the number of cases has reached 10,000 infections and deaths rose by a third to 631. The streets as deserted and shops shuttered as officials imposed a national lockdown while the government has pledged 25 billion euros to fight the virus.

Coronavirus has killed 168 more people in Italy in the past 24 hours, the highest toll in a single day since the start of the outbreak in the country. The whole of Italy – a country of 60 million people – has been placed under quarantine as the government stepped up efforts to tackle the coronavirus outbreak

Globally, more than 4,000 people have died from the coronavirus and over 113,000 cases have been confirmed, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), while around 64,000 people have recovered around the world.

The unprecedented lockdown is Italy has stopped people from moving around or leaving the country unless they have a valid medical, family or work reason. Foreigners are still allowed to leave as the last stragglers were racing to catch flights after a slew of cancellations.

The European Commission will set up an EU fund worth 25 billion euros to tackle the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus outbreak, the head of the EU executive branch said.

Speaking after an emergency video conference of EU leaders, Ursula von der Leyen said the investment fund should be financed with 7.5 billion euros of EU money and help vulnerable sectors of the economy.