Health

Berlusconi admitted to hospital after testing positive for Covid

Rome, Sep 4 (efe-epa).- Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has been admitted to hospital with early-stage double pneumonia after he tested positive for Covid-19.

The 83-year-old president of the right-wing Forza Italia party, was admitted to the San Raffaele hospital in Milan for observation, according to Italy’s Ansa news agency.

A press statement from his team said the former prime minister has shown some symptoms but that the clinical prognosis was not serious.

The media tycoon confirmed his positive coronavirus test on Wednesday and on Thursday said he was feeling well and continued to work.

According to Italian media, Berlusconi spoke with his personal doctor Alberto Sangrillo and decided to admit himself to the San Raffaele hospital.

Berusconi tweeted Thursday: “I want to reassure you that I am fine, I, like many Italians, am a victim of the Covid infection: a disease whose importance I have never underestimated, nor the risks it entails and the consequent need for strict measures to protect public health.”

Berlusconi’s children Barbar, 36 and Luigi, 31 as well as his current girlfriend, MP Marta Fascina, 30, have all tested positive for Covid-19.

According to media reports, Berlusconi attended a party with several dozen attendees on 15 August.

Before admitting himself to hospital he had been isolated at his villa near Milan.

Berlusconi has led four governments in Italy between 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011.

He proved a controversial and often divisive character and is no stranger to controversy and has been involved in corruption and sex scandals.

In 2016, he underwent heart surgery to replace an aortic valve.

Italy was one of Europe’s worst-affected nations during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic in March and April but has since managed to flatten the infection curve. EFE-EPA

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