Concern in Italy: COVID-19 variants already account for 50% of cases as crowds in cities increase

Concern increased in Italy over the weekend due to the spread of new variants of the coronavirus and crowds of people in cities, encouraged by the good weather.

“I am worried. The rebound in infections is largely due to the English variant (…) all the data indicate a probable increase in new cases”, indicated Massimo Galli, one of the most prominent Italian virologists, in an interview with the Roman journal The messenger.

Italy reported on Sunday 13,452 new infections Yes 232 dead. Since the start of the pandemic, 2.8 million cases have been verified, of which more than 95,000 dead.

Despite the call to “stay at home” launched Friday by the Higher Institute of Health (ISS), the crowd turned to the streets, parks and boardwalks to take advantage of the spring weather this weekend.

Naples finally responded by closing part of its promenade, which had been attacked by locals, while the beaches and bars of Ostia, a spa near Rome, were also overrun with crowds.

In the historic Roman center, the Via del Corso, one of the main trade routes, as it becomes impossible to maintain social distance. Scenes of agglomerations were also experienced throughout the Navigli, the canals of central Milan.

Before the advancement of new variants, three Italian regions which were initially classified as “yellow” (moderate risk), officially turned “orange” (Medium risk): Emilia romagna (Bologna region, north), Campania (Naples region) and the small region of Molise (center).

Nine out of twenty regions are on “orange” alert, while the rest in “yellow”.

Some regions have even defined “red” (high risk) zones in specific parts of their territory, such as Umbria (center), Alto Adige (north) and Lazio (Roman region).

According to a study by the National Research Council (CNR), published by the journal The Republic, the new variants would represent between 40 and 50% of cases in regions with the fastest increase in cases.

Experts warn vaccination plan needs to go faster and Italian authorities blame the delay on supply cuts announced by pharmaceutical companies that deliver vaccines to Europe.

But beyond the non-compliance of pharmaceutical laboratories, Italy injected 73% of the doses received.

The President of the Italian Superior Council of Health, Franco Locatelli, calculated this Sunday that at the end of March, Italy should have received 13 million doses since the start of the vaccination campaign.

This February 21, the municipality of Codogno, located south of Milan, inaugurated a steel memorial, to the applause and with a musical concert, in honor of those who died of the coronavirus and their families, but also of those who overcame it.

A year ago, this small town of about 15,000 inhabitants became the first focus of the coronavirus in Europe, when the first case of an infected person who had not been to China was detected.

(With information from AFP and EFE)

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