Second Ukrainian dies in Italy from COVID-19

The novel coronavirus has killed a second Ukrainian based in Italy, the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated on March 20.

A 62-year old Ukrainian woman identified as Halyna became the second officially reported victim of COVID-19 in the Ukrainian community in Italy. She is the fifth Ukrainian to die from the coronavirus since its outbreak in China and spread to Europe.

Halyna came from Lviv Oblast, but worked in the municipality of Romano di Lombardia in the Italian province of Bergamo, in the northern part of the country close to Milan.

She was hospitalized with suspected COVID-19 symptoms first and then transferred to the intensive care unit when her case was confirmed. She spent a few days in intensive care before she died.

Her death was first reported on March 20 by the head of the Christian Society of Ukrainians in Italy, Oles Horodetsky.

Unofficially, however, some Facebook users claim Halyna is the sixth Ukrainian who has died from coronavirus in the country.

The first official fatality of a Ukrainian in Italy from COVID-19 was reported on March 13. It was 66-year-old Raisa Malysheva, who died in the city of Chiari in Brescia province four days after she was diagnosed with COVID-19.

Currently, thirteen Ukrainians infected with COVID-19 are being treated abroad, while 38 Ukrainians are in isolation outside Ukraine, the foreign ministry reported on March 19.

The coronavirus death toll in Italy is now the world’s largest, as the number of fatal cases has jumped to 3,405, surpassing China’s death toll by more than 150 cases.

In Ukraine, 26 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed. Of them, 15 cases have been registered in Chernivtsi Oblast, three in Kyiv Oblast, two in the city of Kyiv, two in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, two in Zhytomyr Oblast, one in Luhansk Oblast and one in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast.

Ukraine has also had three coronavirus-related deaths – in Zhytomyr, Chernivtsi and Ivano-Frankivsk oblasts.