A surge in covid infections in Italy in a week. In fact, the monitoring of the Gimbe Foundation reveals, in the week from 15 to 21 June, “a increase in new cases (255,442) in all Italian regions: + 58.9% in 7 days“. There has also been an increase in ordinary hospitalizations (+ 14.4%) and intensive care (+ 12.6%) but deaths have dropped (-19%).” We are witnessing a sharp surge in new cases weekly (+ 58.9% compared to the previous week) – says Nino Cartabellotta, President of the Gimbe Foundation – which amounted to around 255,000 with a 7-day moving average that exceeds 36,000 cases per day “.
According to the report, in the week 15-21 June the percentage increase of new cases is recorded in all Regions: from + 31.3% in Valle D’Aosta to + 91.5% in Friuli-Venezia Giulia.
Furthermore, on 22 June “6.85 million people over the age of 5 have not received a single dose of the vaccine of which: 4.03 million currently vaccinated, equal to 7% of the audience with clear regional differences: from 4.1% in the autonomous province of Trento to 10.2% in Calabria; 2.82 million temporarily protected as they recovered from Covid-19 for less than 180 days, equal to 4.9% of the audience with clear regional differences: from 3.0% in Molise to 9.7% in the Autonomous Province of Bolzano ” , record the report again.
“The progressive diffusion of the BA.4 and BA.5 variants has contributed to a clear recovery of viral circulation throughout the country with already evident effects also on hospitals: in particular, in the medical area where in 10 days there is an increase of over 700 beds occupied by Covid patients “, underlines Nino Cartabellotta, president of the Gimbe Foundation, commenting on the data of the Foundation’s weekly report.
Consequently, the Gimbe Foundation “calls for caution for at least three reasons. First, the number of positives (about 600 thousand) is largely underestimated due to the massive use of do-it-yourself swabs with partial notification of positive tests; secondly, it is impossible to estimate the extent of this rise in early summer and the times to reach the peak; finally – he concludes – the stalling of the vaccination campaign has generated a population currently susceptible to very widespread infection: 4.03 million unvaccinated, 5 , 51 million without third dose and 4.05 million vulnerable people without fourth dose “.
“In this phase of the pandemic it is essential to reduce viral circulation, in particular by wearing a mask indoors, especially if crowded or poorly ventilated and in conditions of large gatherings even outdoors. Institutions, for their part, must strengthen the vaccination campaign in all people at risk of serious illness, increasing coverage with the third dose in over 50s and with the fourth dose in all vulnerable people included in the audience. ‘Last not but least’, avoid disorienting the population with proposals unscientific and risky for public health, such as the abolition of isolation for the positives “, remarks Cartabellotta.