Over 4 million workers have applied to Italy's national welfare agency to get €600 payments (roughly $650) for wages lost due to the country's stay-at-home order, the agency tweeted on Wednesday.
The big picture: Italy plans to phase out of the world's longest-running coronavirus lockdown next week. As factories and construction sites reopen, the country will have to keep infections down to prevent another novel coronavirus spike.
Where it stands: The agency initially predicted that 2.3 million people would apply to the fund, Reuters reports. 630,000 applications for financial help are currently being verified, tweeted the agency, INPS.
- Italy's unemployment rate is expected to hit 11% this year, per Statista.
- Bloomberg Economics forecasts a 13% shrinkage in the country's GDP this year, while the government predicts the GDP will contract by 8%.
Go deeper: Italy reports lowest single-day coronavirus death toll since March 12
