Coronavirus: former Italy PM Berlusconi in hospital as second wave fears grow in Europe

The 83-year-old flamboyant former prime minister was taken to a hospital in Milan ‘as a precaution’, according to his aides

It came as Spain continues to battle a spike in confirmed cases around its capital and Germany recorded 1,430 new daily cases

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Silvio Berlusconi pictured while prime minister of Italy in 2011. Photo: DPA

Published: 8:06pm, 4 Sep 2020Updated: 5:58am, 5 Sep 2020

Italy’s flamboyant former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has been hospitalised, his aides said on Friday, days after the media tycoon became the latest high-profile figure to contract the coronavirus.

Berlusconi was taken to San Raffaele hospital in Milan on Thursday night “as a precaution” after suffering “certain symptoms”, but there was “no cause for concern”, a statement said.

The AGI news agency said Berlusconi, who turns 84 at the end of this month, was hospitalised in a room that he often occupies when staying at the facility. AGI said this indicates that his condition is not serious, or he would be in intensive care.

Licia Ronzulli, a senator with Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party, said the former prime minister “spent the night in hospital to check on his condition … but he is fine”.

Reporters outside the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan, where Berlusconi is receiving treatment, on Friday. Photo: AFP

Berlusconi announced on Wednesday that he had tested positive for the novel coronavirus and was in quarantine at home.

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