Italy's confirmed coronavirus cases exceed 1,000

ROME - A total of 1,049 people tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Italy, Civil Protection Department chief and Extraordinary Commissioner for the coronavirus emergency Angelo Borrelli said on Saturday.

This figure did not comprise fatalities and recoveries.

"Some 543 people -- or 52 percent of those affected -- are currently under house quarantine, since they are asymptomatic, or presents light symptoms and need no hospital treatments," Borrelli told a press conference at 6 p.m. local time (1700 GMT).

Another 401 people (38 percent) were hospitalized with symptoms, and 105 (10 percent) in hospital in intensive care, the official added.

The death toll rose to 29 people from 21, after eight more people died, with six in the Lombardy region and two in the Emilia Romagna region.

"However, this figure can be confirmed only after the National Health Institute (ISS) has definitely established the cause of death," the Health Ministry stated.

The number of people who have recovered from the infection also rose to 50 from 46 in the previous day.

Considering both fatalities and recoveries, the official count of cases in the country thus reached 1,128.

The majority of the infections were still registered in northern Lombardy (615 cases), central Emilia Romagna (217), and northeast Veneto (191), according to the Civil Protection chief.

"There are currently some 1,800 law enforcement officials and 800 Civil Protection volunteers deployed across the country to assist doctors and medical staff," Borrelli also explained.

Assessing the overall situation at the press conference with the commissioner, National Institute of Health (ISS) President Silvio Brusaferro explained it was still too early to see the impact of the containment measures adopted on the infection evolution.

"The effects of the measures adopted last week will be visible in some 13-14 days, which coincides more or less with the incubation period," Brusaferro told reporters.

"Therefore, the cases we are seeing today are believed to be related -- for the great majority -- to people who were infected before the measures entered into force," he explained.

Officials first confirmed the coronavirus outbreak on Feb. 21, when six cases of infection emerged in the small town of Codogno in Lombardy.

In response, Codogno and another nine nearby towns were put under lockdown in an effort to contain the spread of the virus. The same occurred to another town in Veneto, after another hotbed of coronavirus was registered in that region.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte's cabinet passed a first package of measures to support households, companies, and economic sectors in the worst affected areas -- those put under quarantine in Lombardy and Veneto -- on Friday, and a second package to contain the impact on the overall domestic economy was announced.

"In the next days, we will approve a broader and more substantial decree. The country must face this emergency with resolution, cohesion, and faith," Economy Minister Roberto Gualtieri wrote on Twitter.