Coronavirus: Now Study Says Covid-19 Has Been Present in Italy For Over A Year

A study of samples from patients treated in the city of Milan in November 2019 indicated that the coronavirus was already present in Italy at the time. 4-year-old boy tested positive for the disease over a year ago, two months before what was considered to be the arrival of the virus in the country.

According to a survey conducted by the University of Milan conducted by experts Elisabetta Tanzi and Antonella Amendola, recent analyzes on samples taken from November 21, 2019 a 4-year-old shows he has been infected with a coronavirus “which is 100% that of Wuhan”, referring to the Chinese city considered to be the epicenter of the pandemic.

According to the work, published in the magazine “Emerging Infectious Diseases”, and reported by the newspaper Repubblica, the evidence indicates that the coronavirus was already in circulation “since mid-November” in northern Italy, which subsequently became the most affected area in the country, with almost half of the 61,240 casualties recorded since the start of the pandemic.

At the same time, the Italian government today asked “not to relax the measures” in force against the coronavirus, which include the division of the territory into three risk zones and the ban on movement between the regions during Christmas and the New Year , for avoid a possible third wave of illness.

“The number of positive points that are still seen every day tells us that we must continue and implement the measures taken because as soon as the measures relax, the curve rises,” warned the Director of Prevention of the Ministry of Health, Gianni Rezza, in statements to the newspaper La Stampa.

Rezza’s request comes after Italy reported yesterday 14,842 cases of the disease.

In any case, the country’s positivity index, which measures the number of infections per 100 tests performed, has broken through the bottom of 10% and reached 9.9%, after peaking at 18% ago. two weeks.

Against this background, Rezza said easing the current measures, among which the government maintains the nighttime curfew nationwide between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., would be “a mistake”.

After the appearance of a strong second wave of coronavirus in early October, the government on November 3 ordered the division of Italy into three risk areas, yellow, orange and red, to apply restrictive measures in the different regions.

After seven of the country’s 20 regions were classified as a “red zone” in mid-November, only Abruzzo, in the center, currently remains in the area of ​​greatest epidemiological risk after a general decline in infections nationwide.

According to data from the Ministry of Health, between December 2 and 8, the percentage reduction was 17.7%, from 165,906 infections to 136,534.

Meanwhile, virologists Andrea Crisanti, from the newspaper La Repubblica, and Massimo Galli, from La Stampa, they warned today of the “risks” of a third wave after the New Year if the measures proposed by the government are relaxed.

Faced with the festivities, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte ordered the ban on travel between regions, even if they are in the yellow zone between December 21 and January 6.

In addition, the new regulations in force since December 4 provide that on December 25 and 26 and January 1, all movement outside the municipality of residence will be prohibited.

Until, 61,240 people have died in Italy from the coronavirus, and another 737,525 are currently positive for the disease.

Source: Telam