Coronavirus: Italy, another European country which returns to restrictions for fear of a “third wave”

ROMA – Italy prepare to face new restrictions introduced by the government which will govern from this Monday in certain regions, including Lombardy Meanwhile, the island of Sardinia enters the best classification standard, white area, which is equivalent to in an almost case-free area where most of the restrictions have been lifted.

If in the last hours there has been a drop in infections, with 18,916 confirmed cases, the most important is that within a week, the positive coronavirus cases increased by 29% in Italy and admissions to intensive care units increased by 21%.

Experts start to refer “The third wave” and they take these “large increases” as possible indicators, as an analysis of the data by the physicist explains. Giorgio Sestili, founder of a scientific communication network. The 29% increase in cases over the previous seven days is “a significant increase, as cases had stabilized in the previous five weeks.”

The 20 Italian regions are divided into zones according to the level of danger of the virus: yellow (moderate risk), orange (medium risk) and red (high risk). Lombardy, Marche and Piedmont will move from the yellow zone to the orange zone. The regions of Basilicata and Molise in southern Italy will move to the Red zone, higher risk.

This is the first time that a region has become a white area. Sardinia will return to normal after the vast majority of restrictions were lifted, except for wearing a mask and social distancing.

The decision to move to the “risk-free” zone is due to the fact that Sardinia has registered for three consecutive weeks less than 50 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants. Given the measures, restaurants, cinemas, theaters, gymnasiums and swimming pools will reopen.

Despite the good news, Sardinia has no plans to relax as the situation in the rest of Italy remains delicate. He decided to open his activities with caution, “under surveillance”.

Italy is not the only European country to move towards new health restrictions in the face of fear of the so-called third wave of coronavirus, aggravated by the delay in the production and distribution of vaccines.

France

The Prime Minister Jean Castex He called on authorities in more than 20 departments, including Paris, to tighten restrictions.

The head of government urged “to conduct in-depth consultations and take immediate measures, such as strengthening controls, optimizing the vaccination campaign, deploying tests in educational institutions and compliance with guidelines relating to telework “, according to an official statement.

From today a partial blocking in several regions of France particularly affected by the virus, such as Nice, in the south, and Dunkirk, in the north.

France, whose stable situation seems to be deteriorating, has recorded 3.7 million cases and 86,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

Germany

The government of Angela Merkel, affected by the shortage of vaccines, analyzes the extension until March 17 of the entry restrictions into the country of people from areas where variants of the virus spread without control, according to local media.

The entry ban currently applies to tourists from the Czech Republic and large areas of the Tyrol region of Austria. It would be in effect until March 3.

Czech Republic

Czech government considering applying the most stringent measures since the start of the pandemic to avoid a health collapse, being close to reaching 20,000 deaths from Covid.

For at least three weeks from Monday, the country will restrict travel between cities and close all open schools and businesses, Prime Minister Andrej Babis reported.

Telam and ANSA agencies

THE NATION

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