'We're out of the storm': Health minister says Italy is past the worst of the Covid-19 crisis

Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza said Italy is now past the worst of the crisis, but stressed that caution is still needed. 'I believe Italy has made it,' Speranza said in a speech on Tuesday to the Coldiretti agricultural group's general assembly. 'I'm not thinking of the government but of the country as a whole.' 'We were the first to be hit in the world after China, we didn't have an instruction manual. We had to learn about the virus,' he added. Italy was the first European country to be hit by the Covid-19 outbreak, which has now claimed more than 35,000 lives in Italy according to government figures. 'We're out of the storm,' the minister added, 'even if not yet in a safe port.' 'I think we need to be honest with each other: these have been the most difficult months in the history of the country since the Second World War'.