On Friday, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte issued a new decree that extends the country’s lockdown until May 3 as health officials have confirmed the Covid-19 curve continues to flatten.

Although Italy remains one of the countries with the highest number of infections in Europe, the number of patients hospitalized and those who are in intensive-care has fallen for the fifth straight day.

Officials are urging people not to ease up on the lockdown measures as the restrictions continue to show results. Only a small fraction of businesses that had been shuttered since March 12 will be allowed to re-open on a trial basis from Tuesday.

Also on Friday, Conte reiterated Italy had not given up on its drive for the European Union to issue joint debt to finance a shared response to the economic downturn caused by Covid-19.

But the idea of shared debt is strongly opposed by wealthy countries such as Germany, Austria and Holland.

According to latest polls, the Italian public opinion is increasingly turning against the European Union due to Brussels lack of solidarity.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has warned that the European Union’s existence would be under threat if it could not tackle the coronavirus pandemic and its socio-economic consequences. On April 23, EU leaders are slated to discuss which financial tools shall be adopted to deal with the bruising effects of the Covid-19 crisis.

Source: Presstv