COVID-19 Life in Different Countries

Italy extends coronavirus safety measures through September

The Italian government will extend its coronavirus safety measures until Sept. 7, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said Friday during a news conference.

The council of ministers approved a decree related to the health emergency, which will be in force from Aug. 10 through Sept. 7.

“The new decree will find the extension until 7 September of the minimum precautionary measures that are currently in force,” Conte said. “We are in a situation of substantial stability with regards to the epidemiological curve, with slight signs of a resurgence of the number of infections.”

“The rate of infections in Italy is among the lowest in the European Union,” Conte added, recalling how bad the virus hit the country. 

Among the measures that will be extended, the obligation of wearing face masks in closed places accessible to the public, the one-meter distance rule on social distancing and the ban on gatherings.

Americans could save 70,000 lives by wearing masks, official says

More than 160,000 have died of coronavirus in the US so far and that number could nearly double by December, the director of a leading model said Thursday.

But consistently wearing masks could save nearly 70,000 of the 295,000 people projected to die of the virus by December 1, the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) director Dr. Christopher Murray said on CNN’s Global Town Hall.

“It’s rare that you see something so simple, so inexpensive, so easy for everybody to participate in can have such an extraordinary impact in the US and also all over the world,” Murray said.

The latest on masks in the US: At least 39 states as well as Washington, DC and Puerto Rico have implemented mask requirements of some kind. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear extended his state’s mask mandate by 30 days yesterday, saying “It’s working.”

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated mask recommendations on its website, urging people not use masks with valves or vents. While the one-way valve keeps people cooler by allowing air to escape, that also means respiratory droplets that carry the virus can escape and infect others.