Italy's Berlusconi Back In Hospital: Party Source

Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has been readmitted to hospital, a source close to his Forza Italia party said Tuesday.

It will be the third time since March, and the fourth this year, that the 84-year-old billionaire and media tycoon has been admitted to hospital.

His latest admission to the San Raffaele hospital in Milan is related to the after-effects of Covid-19, which Berlusconi contracted in September, a second source with knowledge of the matter told AFP.

Berlusconi, who had open heart surgery in 2016, was most recently released from the same hospital on May 1.

The politician is currently facing trial in the latest installment of his long-running "bunga bunga" sex scandal, but hearings have been repeatedly postponed due to his health.

Berlusconi, who has dominated public life in Italy since the 1980s, has had a string of health issues in recent years.

In January, he was admitted to a hospital in Monaco for heart problems. In September, he spent 11 days in the hospital after contracting coronavirus.