Malaysia, Italy can learn from each other to battle COVID-19, says Ambassador

He stressed that information sharing at the international level needs to be strengthened, as multiple variants of the disease have emerged, which might prolong the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Maggipinto the more we know about the virus and the cause of the disease, the more we would be able to fight the disease.

"All of us can learn from each other's experiences on how to treat the disease," he told Bernama in an interview recently.

Maggipinto pointed out that Italy and Malaysia had already established cooperation on COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic and the two countries are liaising with one another on this aspect.

"We also had online meetings with Italian, Malaysian and ASEAN experts about the management of the pandemic and how to react to it and so on," he added.

Asked about COVID-19 situation in Italy, he said the government is gradually easing the lockdown restrictions from April 26 after the country reported a steady decline in COVID-19 cases.

Maggipinto said Italy had imposed a very strict lockdown after it was severely hit by the pandemic last year.

"In March 2020, the situation in Italian hospitals was very difficult. Now the situation, I would say, is under control. Now our hospitals have much improved their capabilities to face the pandemic and to deal with it," he said.

He also attributed the improvement to the country's vaccination programme which has been rolled-out since the end of last year.

On Italians residing in Malaysia, Maggipinto said they have a stable community of approximately 1,000 people, and most of them have been living and working in Malaysia for a long time.

He said they are coping well with the pandemic situation and feel safe in the country.