Coronavirus in Italy, contagions on the rise. For the first time since last June 19, in fact, yesterday the thousand cases were exceeded again. However, the number of deaths remains low (14 the figure recorded in the bulletin of July 7), while intensive care and hospitalizations are decreasing thanks to vaccinations that see over 40% of citizens immunized with a total of over 55 million doses of vaccine administered. . The call from ministry and experts, as always, is to be cautious. And Speranza insists: “We must be aware that the pandemic is not over”.
For the minister, who spoke yesterday in a video message during an event organized by the magazine ‘Fortune’, “the numbers of other European countries and the world that see infections rise despite the high vaccination rate testify to this”. The minister therefore called for “maximum attention, maximum caution, maximum prudence”. And to “continue this impressive work, which is the most important weapon we have to end this difficult season, which is our vaccination campaign”.
But is there a risk of a fourth wave of Covid in September? “In light of the spread of vaccinations, absolutely not. There is a risk of a resumption of infections: how to avoid it? With attention, prudence and responsibility in behavior. Not pressing to reopen everything immediately, but proceeding gradually”, he reassures instead in an interview published in today’s issue of ‘Famiglia Cristiana’ Franco Locatelli, president of the Higher Council of Health (Css), coordinator of the Technical Scientific Committee (CTS) for the coronavirus emergency and director of Child Jesus Precision Experimental Medicine From Rome.
“The virus is always the same – he explains -. If anything, the two variants that are now more widespread in the country, Alpha and Delta, are more contagious than the strain from Wuhan. Let’s not make the mistake of thinking of a virus that, for how much it has changed characteristics, is connoted by less power to cause serious illness. What has changed is the state of immunization in the country, with 51 million doses administered. This accounts for greater protection from infection “.
The Delta variant, “in addition to the greater contagiousness, seems to have attenuated or completely lost some characteristics: for example the loss of taste and smell. The most frequent symptoms are fever, runny nose, headache and sore throat – Locatelli lists – But this does not prevent it from causing equally serious pathologies “. How to behave? “Indoors, masks must be kept – he recommends – because they are the most effective non-pharmacological interventions together with interpersonal distancing. But also outdoors it is advisable to wear them where it is not possible to avoid gatherings or crowds (in line, in queue, in the markets or in a fair). Just as it is appropriate to keep them when in contact with an immunosuppressed person “.