52-year-old officer in Italian Prime Minister's security dies of COVID-19

An Italian policeman who worked in Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte's security detail died Saturday after contracting the novel coronavirus, the country's police force said, Report informs citing foreign media.

The Italian government said that, when officer Giorgio Guastamacchia tested positive on March 21, he had not been in contact with Conte for at least two weeks.

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) emerged in late 2019 in China's Hubei province, and the virus has spread to 205 countries and territories since then. More than 1,138,000 people infected with novel coronavirus infection, 61,142 died worldwide.

On March 11, the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic.