Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi tests positive for coronavirus

Eighty-three-year-old isolating at home after precautionary test, says his office

Silvio Berlusconi tested positive for coronavirus after a precautionary check, his office said (EPA)

Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has tested positive for Covid-19, his spokesperson has said.

Mr Berlusconi, 83, has confirmed to have been infected following precautionary check and is self-isolating at home in Arcore, near Milan.

The media tycoon plans to continue to work from there until he completes the necessary quarantine period, his office said.

Alberto Zangrillo, Mr Berlusconi’s personal doctor at Milan’s San Raffaele hospital, told Italian news agency Adnkronos he had no symptoms but had decided undergo a test after a recent stay in Sardinia.

The Mediterranean island has seen a sharp increase in coronavirus incections following an influx of tourists.

The three-time Italian premier had been recently pictured with an old friend, businessman Flavio Briatore, who was treated in hospital after testing positive for Covid-19 last month.

Mr Berlusconi had tested negative at the time.

The ex-PM has recently gained new attention on Italy‘s political scene ahead of regional elections in late September, when his centrist Forza Italia party could prove crucial for a possible win of the centre-right opposition.

Italy, which has suffered one of Europe’s worst outbreaks of Covid-19 with over 270,000 confirmed cases and 35,500 deaths, has managed to contain the outbreak since a peak in fatalities and infections in March and April.

However, the country recorded a steady increase in new cases in August, with experts blaming gatherings of people associated with holidays and nightlife.