The growth rate of total COVID-19 cases in Italy has been slowing since March 8, according to the Italian Civil Protection Department, and, in the past few days, the total new daily cases have finally started to shrink, suggesting Italy is ‘flattening the curve,’ meaning that it is slowing the spread of the virus.

Italy was the first country in Europe to witness a widespread outbreak of the coronavirus, which, as of the morning of April 2, has infected some 960,000 people worldwide. Currently Italy has the second highest number of confirmed cases worldwide, with approximately 110,000, trailing only the U.S. And Italy has seen the most COVID-19 deaths out of any country, with over 13,000 Italians having lost their lives to the virus. Since March 9, Italy’s 60 million residents have been placed on lockdown.