Published 17:50 IST, April 15th 2020
Coronavirus Italy: Official warns against resuming Serie A without vaccine availability
Coronavirus Italy: The COVID-19 pandemic is showing signs of slowing down in Italy but officials warn that spectators will not be allowed at Serie A matches.
Advertisement
Italy remains one of the worst-affected countries by the COVID-19 pandemic that has gripped the globe. However, the situation looks to have improved over the last couple of weeks as the number of infections and the death rate has fallen quite significantly. The Italian Football Association is weighing up contingency plans to restart the 2019-20 Serie A season sometime in June. However, Sandra Zampa, the undersecretary for the Ministry of Health, warned that playing Serie A football in a stadium filled with spectators is not a possibility until a vaccine is developed to kill COVID-19.
Coronavirus Italy
Italy lockdown extended until May 3, 2020, amid COVID-19 pandemic
NEW: Italy extends nationwide lockdown for another three weeks until May 3.
— Norbert Elekes (@NorbertElekes) April 10, 2020
Also Read | Serie A legend Gianluigi Buffon opens up on conversation with Ronaldo after THAT UCL goal in 2018
Coronavirus Italy
Italian Football association drawing up contingency plans to tackle COVID-19 pandemic
Breaking: Italy’s football federation (FIGC) has begun to draw up medical guidelines for a possible restart of Serie A, which has been suspended since March 9 because of the coronavirus outbreak.
— indykaila News (@indykaila) April 9, 2020
They are prepared to continue until September or October if necessary.
In an interview with RaiNews24 on Tuesday, Zampa revealed that it will take some time before Italian football can return to normalcy amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Zampa was quoted as saying “We are still in phase one. The descent is very slow, phase one will begin on May 3rd, but this does not mean returning to the life we knew. I think it is very difficult for the football leagues (Serie A) to resume but I do not see this as a priority at the moment. In any case, full stadiums will only be seen again when we are safe and that is when we have a vaccine. There will not be normal life until we have the vaccine.”
Also Read | Coronavirus Italy: Italian Football Federation hopes players test -ve for COVID-19 by May
Coronavirus Italy
Italy registers the highest number of deaths in Europe amid COVID-19 pandemic
Most coronavirus deaths in Europe
— The Spectator Index (@spectatorindex) April 13, 2020
Italy: 19,899
Spain: 17,489
France: 14,393
UK: 10,612
Belgium: 3,903
Germany: 3,022
Netherlands: 2,737
Turkey: 1,198
Switzerland: 1,117
Sweden: 899
Portugal: 504
Austria: 368
Ireland: 334
Romania: 318
Denmark: 273
Poland: 232
17:49 IST, April 15th 2020