Italy, which does not make face masks, receives 800,000 of them from South Africa, but needs at least another 10 million. a senior Italian civil defense official said on Tuesday.

“We received 400,000 from South Africa (Monday) and will receive the same on Wednesday,” said Luigi D’Angelo, director of the Civil Protection Department, in a telephone interview.

He stated that shipments were made to Rome's Fiumicino airport and then distributed throughout Italy, where 79 deaths and more than 2,500 cases of virus infection have been reported since February 22 - the largest in Europe today.

D’Angelo said Italy needs “eight million surgical masks” that should be used either by those who suffer from the virus or those who have been in contact with sick people.

Italy will also need “several million FFP2 and FFP3 masks that will be used by healthcare providers who are in direct contact with patients,” said the head of the civil protection agency.

White masks FFP2 and FFP3 provide much greater protection than conventional surgical masks - usually green and commonly found on the streets..

Italian hospitals had initial supplies, but the rapid spread of the epidemic put the healthcare system in a tense state, D’Angelo explained..

He said some stores were “running out of supplies,” and added that 200,000 masks a day were used in Italy’s most affected region, Lombardy..

55 deaths and 1,520 cases recorded on Tuesday in Lombardy.

According to D’Angelo, Italy also turned to other mask producing countries, including Romania, Switzerland and the Netherlands..

Civil Protection recommends home quarantine for people with mild symptoms or those who have no symptoms but who have been in contact with infected patients.

But “it requires a bedroom and a bathroom,” he emphasized..

His agency has already set up military-style barracks near Rome and Turin, and will be even more located near Milan to help isolate people, he said..

Prison and hospital tents.

Civil protection authorities also set up tents in front of some hospitals to ensure that suspicious cases do not come in contact with other patients, D’Angelo said..

“We have installed 330-350 pre-sorting tents in front of hospitals (departments) and 130 in front of prisons so that they do not become centers of the epidemic,” he said.

D’Angelo added that extra beds and medical staff were provided to the military..

med-heal. ru.