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		</div><p>Italian authorities say the country now has more than 1,000 coronavirus cases and 29 people infected with the strain known as Covid-19 have died.</p>
<p>The head of Italy’s civil protection agency said during a news conference that the total number has reached 1,128. Officials also reported eight more deaths in the previous 24 hours of people with the virus, bring Italy’s total to 29.</p>
<p>Civil protection chief Angelo Borrelli said 52% of the people who tested positive for the virus in Italy are being isolated in their homes and not sent to hospital.</p>
<p>Health authorities said they suspect the new cases confirmed since Friday involved infections acquired before Italy shut down 11 towns in northern Italy on February 21.</p>
<p>They said it would take at least two weeks – the period of incubation – for the effect of the containment measures to show up in fewer new cases.</p>
<p>A US government advisory urging Americans to reconsider travel to Italy due to the spread of Covid-19 was described as the “final blow” to the nation’s tourism industry by the head of Italy’s hotel federation.</p>
<p>The US State Department issued a level three travel advisory – the second-highest level of warning – for the whole of Italy on Friday, saying that the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention had recommended “avoiding non-essential travel”.</p>
<p>Other major countries have issued warnings for only defined areas of northern Italy where most cases of the coronavirus are clustered.</p>
<p>More than 5.6 million Americans visit Italy every year, the second-largest national group behind Germans, according to the most recent statistics. They represent 9% of foreign tourists in Italy, and are among the biggest spenders at an average of 140 euro (£120) a day for a collective total of 5 billion euro (£4.3 billion) a year, the hotel federation Federalberghi said.</p>
<p>Federalberghi president Bernabo Bocca said: <em>“We had already registered a slowdown of Americans coming to Italy in recent days. Now, the final blow has arrived.”</em></p>
<p>The Assoturismo Italian tourism federation was already warning that the sector that is responsible for 13% of Italian GDP risked collapse from the virus outbreak’s impact on travel.</p>
<p>March bookings were down 90% in Rome and 80% in Sicily, Assoturismo said, referring to parts of Italy largely untouched by the virus so far. The industry federation estimated that cancelled reservations for March would cause 200 million euro (£172 million) in economic damage – and that was before the US upgraded its advice on travelling to Italy.</p>
<p>The federation’s president, Vittorio Messina said: <em>“This is the darkest moment. Not even September 11 hit so heavily.”</em></p>
<p>The Italian government has taken action to help the tourism industry, such as delaying deadlines for tax payments and a moratorium on industry mortgages.</p>
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