Italy returned to containment in ten regions ahead of third wave of infections: they blame strains in UK and Brazil

Most of Italy returned to detention on Monday, a year after the country was shut down to contain covid-19, while the prime minister, Mario Draghi, pledged to triple the vaccination rate to over half a million per day.

While some other European countries, like Germany, have submitted plans to reopen, Italy is moving in the opposite direction amid a resurgence in infections to levels last seen in November. The government has blamed the most contagious strains of the virus in the UK and Brazil.

From Monday March 15 until April 6, ten regions and the autonomous province of Trento will be in detention, a measure which will affect some 40 million Italians, and which will maintain schools and non-essential businesses closedAlthough it is possible to go out on the streets for reasons of work, health and necessity, the factories will remain open.

Draghi, former head of the European Central Bank renowned for his technocratic efficiency, took office in February as he hoped he would end the emergency and help revive the economy.

His cabinet on Friday approved restrictions for all regions that have a weekly incidence of 250 infections per 100,000 inhabitants. The use of face masks and social distancing will remain mandatory.

“Italy administers around 170,000 vaccines per day; our goal is to triple that ”, Draghi said in one of his few public appearances since becoming prime minister. “It is only with generalized vaccinations that we can do without restrictions like the ones we had to adopt.”

The cases per million inhabitants in Italy are at the same level as at the beginning of December (Our World in Data)

Draghi chose a vaccination center at Rome Fiumicino airport as the backdrop for defend your argument that the launch of the vaccination campaign will improve the conditions of a devastated economy. The Prime Minister has pledged 32 billion euros ($ 38 billion) in additional stimulus next week, and more in the following months.

To keep your vaccination promise, Draghi will need to ensure pharmaceutical companies step up vaccine deliveries, which so far amounted to 7.9 million doses. He hinted he was ready to block vaccine exports again in the event of further delays, using European emergency powers Italy already held earlier this month.

Italy has so far inoculated 6.6 million doses and nearly two million people are vaccinated after receiving both needed.

Considering the situationFrom April 3 to 5, Easter holidays in Italy, the whole country will enter the famous “red zone” in which restaurants can only serve at home. or to transport and interprovincial travel is prohibited, as well as the number of visits to other homes is limited to one per day and with a maximum of two people.

Sunday Italy recorded 21,000 new cases of coronavirus and 264 deaths, while the pressure on hospitals continues to mount: there are now 3,082 people in intensive care. In mainstream wards, patients increased by 365 from yesterday, bringing the total to 24,518 patients.

By regions, Lombardy remains the most affected, with 667,038 cases in total, almost 4,300 in the last few hours, followed by Veneto (354,000 cases in total) and Campania (303,000). The increase in the rate of positives is worrying again, which stood at 7.98% on Sunday, one point higher than the day before.

(With information from Bloomberg, Europa Press, EFE)

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