Euro 2020 partying blamed for surge in new covid-19 cases.

The number of new covid cases recorded in Rome on 20 July is almost five times that of the day Italy beat England to be crowned Euro 2020 champions.

Yesterday there were 557 new cases recorded in the capital over the previous 24 hours, compared to 122 new cases on 11 July, reports news agency ANSA.

• Euro 2020: Azzurri open top bus in Rome 'not authorised'

The Lazio region recorded a total of 681 new cases yesterday, compared to 164 on the day of the Euro final, with the boom in cases centred on the capital.

Announcing the data, the Lazio regional health councillor Alessio D'Amato took a swing at Italy's football federation chief Gabriele Gravina, who defended the Azzurri's triumphant open top bus parade through large crowds in Rome's city centre.

• Italian regions risk new covid restrictions amid rise in cases

"We are paying [the price of] the so-called 'Gravina effect' but without complications in hospitals," said D'Amato, who added that cases are set to rise further in the coming days, due to Euro partying, with those affected mainly "young people not yet vaccinated."