Italy reports 1st virus death, cases more than quadruple

22/2/2020 11:51

        Italy reported its first death from the new virus from China and the number of people infected more than quadrupled due to a cluster of cases that prompted officials to order schools, restaurants and businesses to close.
        
        State-run RAI television reported a 78-year-old man had died. He was one of two people in northern Veneto region to have been infected.
        
        In Lombardy, at least 14 new cases were confirmed, representing the first infections in Italy acquired through secondary contagion and bringing the country's total to 19. The cluster was located in a handful of tiny towns southeast of Milan, said Lombardy regional health chief Giulio Gallera.
        
        Gallera says "This was foreseeable even if we hoped it wouldn't have happened,"