Italy's Berlusconi leaves intensive care, remains in hospital

Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is out of intensive care, but remains in Milan's San Raffaele hospital where he was being treated for a lung infection caused by chronic leukaemia, two sources told Reuters on Sunday.

The sources confirmed reports from newspaper Corriere della Sera and other media about the 86-year-old billionaire media tycoon.

A spokesperson for the hospital declined to comment.

Berlusconi was rushed to San Raffaele on April 5, triggering speculation that his life might be in danger and drawing a stream of family and friends to his bedside.

His doctors said that Berlusconi is suffering from Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukaemia (CML). They did not specify when the cancer was first spotted, saying only that it was not acute.

In their bulletins, doctors have said his condition has been improving since the hospitalisation.

Berlusconi's Forza Italia party is part of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's right-wing coalition, though he does not have a role in government.

Berlusconi's health has deteriorated in recent years. He had heart surgery in 2016, has also had prostate cancer, and has been repeatedly admitted to hospital since contracting COVID-19 in 2020.

"Best of luck Silvio, my friend!," Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, a political ally of Berlusconi, wrote on Twitter, commenting on the Corriere della Sera report.