PORTO CERVO, Sardinia – The number of positive cases of the Coronavirus of those staff members tested in the Billionaire club is now 63 out of 90, reports Il Messaggero.

 It is also reported that the condition of one of the employees, a 59 year-old barman, has worsened and he is now intubated in intensive care. He had been receiving oxygen support previously in Sassari University hospital. On Monday, news came out that the famous Formula 1 mogul and owner of the Billionaire in Sardinia had been hospitalized and was in a serious condition, after being tested it was announced he had also contracted the virus. His condition is now understood to be not serious. In recent days Briatore had been in the spotlight for a heated exchange of words with the mayor of Arzachena over the government enforced closure of discoteques, including his nightclub Billionaire. 

 There are now concerns the outbreak will spread even further to guests at the nightclub, and a contact tracing effort is underway. However, reportedly there are fears that certain guests used false names and phone numbers. According to reports from Corriere della Sera, the once exclusive and secret guest list of the luxury club will be handed over to Marcello Acciaro, in charge of North Sardinia’s anti-Covid unit. Acciaro said to Corriere that the list “will be very useful, to identify who went to the club, to make a first selection amongst those that have already tested positive, to trace contacts and links.” A concern for Acciaro is the fact that in this specific Sardinian strip of clubs, clients will often move from one club to another and many more clubs’ client details, if they have them, will have to be investigated including the Sottovento club. On Thursday, according to il Fatto quotidiano, a manager at Sottovento has tested positive for the virus and is in hospital with serious symptoms and being treated with oxygen.

Briatore had announced the enforced closure of the Billionaire, Aug. 18, lambasting the region’s mayor, saying “The heart weeps to see an economy massacred like this.” He had further been irritated by the extra measures taken by the region, such as lowering the volume of music and turning it off after midnight. The mayor duly responded “It is a particular moment and our guard should be kept up, this mandate will protect the health of all and above all older people like you.” Speaking to Adnkronos about the government decree for the closure of discotheques, Briatore commented that he thought that in Rome, “They wanted to find a symbolic scapegoat and they’ve found it in discotheques. As far as they see it, it seems as though this virus acts only at night and not in the day.”

 After Briatore’s positive test for Covid and the swirling controversy around the Sardinian holiday spot of Porto Cervo, the Formula 1 businessman has sparked even more outrage. On Wednesday, he posted a selfie on Instagram in hospital, smiling in bed, which many saw as a show of disrespect to the seriousness of the situation not only in his nightclub but throughout Italy. In fact, La Stampa reports that the hospital Briatore entered on Sunday tested him and found him positive for Coronavirus then, even though Briatore himself told Corriere della Sera he was not sure if he had Covid-19 in a telephone interview on Tuesday evening, two days later.  

 During the Ferragosto holiday Briatore was pictured at a football match with other celebrities in the Cala di Volpe hotel. One notable attendee at the game was Serie A football manager Sinisa Mihajlovic who had also tested positive for the virus, he is reportedly isolating and asymptomatic. A few days earlier in Sardinia, Briatore had met with ex-Prime Minister of Italy Silvio Berlusconi, reports il Fatto quotidiano. It has been announced that Berlusconi took a test for Covid, and was negative.

 The hotspot follows on from a series of similar such outbreaks on the island of Sardinia and a general uptrend in the cases of Coronavirus in Italy over the last weeks. On Thursday il Fatto quotidiano reported that 150 staff members in the Isuledda di Cannigione campsite have been tested after a Roman girl tested positive for the virus. There are fears these tests may lead to another outbreak and the testing of the 1,800 guests on holiday there.

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