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HEALTH

Italy reports over 10,000 new Covid cases as government urged to tighten rules

Italy reported over 10,000 new cases of coronavirus on Friday, its highest ever daily toll, as the country braces for the new wave of infections sweeping Europe.

Published: 16 October 2020 17:40 CEST
Italy reports over 10,000 new Covid cases as government urged to tighten rules
Photo: AFP
The toll of 10,010 infections in one day – with 55 deaths – was the third day in a row that Italy broke its previous coronavirus records.
 
 
At the height of Italy's coronavirus crisis in March, the highest 24-hour toll of new infections was 6,557 on March 21st.
 
However, testing capacity was far lower at that time, with around 26,000 tests being carried out on that date.
 
More than 150,000 tests were performed in the 24 hour period October 15-16th, similar to numbers in recent days.
 
The percentage of swabs coming back positive however has also increased.
 
 
Over 391,000 people have contracted Covid-19 in Italy since the pandemic began, and 36,427 people have died.
 
Earlier on Friday,  expert advisors to Health Minister Roberto Speranza said tighter measures needed to be enforced to stop the spread of Covid-19.
 
Walter Ricciardi, a member of the Technical Scientific Committee (CTS), recommended tougher measures for areas with a transmission rate, or R number, over 1, including the closure of non-essential shops.
 
“The measures to slow the growth of infections must not be guided by today's numbers, but by those expected in three weeks,” Ricciardi wrote on Twitter.

 
 
 
Ministers from the Democratic Party, which rules in coaliton with the Five Star Movement, meanwhile called for a government summt on possible new measures.
 
 
Health minister Speranza said on Friday evening: “No decision has been taken at the moment (on implementing new restrictions). We're analyzing the data and discussing with the regions.”
 
Ministers are set to meet on Saturday to discuss new restrictions, the Ansa news agency reported.
 
Italy has already tightened some meaures over the past two weeks, and on Monday brought in a raft of new rules under the latest emergency decree, including early closing for bars and restaurants, limits on parties, and a ban on some sports.
 
Crtics say the new rules do not go far enough, and local authorities in some hard-hit areas such as Campania have since announced stricter rules of their own.

Member comments

  1. It’s so normal when you test that amount of people.In some way,I think it’s essential to get over this virus

  2. “Get over” it?
    How? By ignoring the reality of it and then seeing hospital capacity exceeded, hospital staff overwhelmed and the most vulnerable in societies needlessly sickened?

  3. Or perhaps I misunderstood?
    Perhaps your advice to “get over” it meant we must all work together and sacrifice to defeat this real threat to our nations, our families and our friends.
    I hope that is what you meant.

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HEALTH

Italy’s schools warned to ‘avoid gatherings’ as Covid cases rise

As Italy’s new school year began, masks and hand sanitiser were distributed in schools and staff were asked to prevent gatherings to help stem an increase in Covid infections.

Published: 11 September 2023 12:48 CEST
Italy’s schools warned to ‘avoid gatherings’ as Covid cases rise

Pupils returned to school in many parts of Italy on Monday and authorities said they were distributing masks and hand sanitiser amid a post-summer increase in the number of recorded cases of Covid–19.

“The advice coming from principals, teachers and janitors is to avoid gatherings of students, especially in these first days of school,” Mario Rusconi, head of Italy’s Principals’ Association, told Rai news on Monday.

He added that local authorities in many areas were distributing masks and hand sanitizer to schools who had requested them.

“The use of personal protective equipment is recommended for teachers and students who are vulnerable,” he said, confirming that “use is not mandatory.”

A previous requirement for students to wear masks in the classroom was scrapped at the beginning of the last academic year.

Walter Ricciardi, former president of the Higher Health Institute (ISS), told Italy’s La Stampa newspaper on Monday that the return to school brings the risk of increased Covid infections.

Ricciardi described the health ministry’s current guidelines for schools as “insufficient” and said they were “based on politics rather than scientific criteria.”

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Recorded cases of Covid have increased in most Italian regions over the past three weeks, along with rates of hospitalisation and admittance to intensive care, as much of the country returns to school and work following the summer holidays.

Altogether, Italy recorded 21,309 new cases in the last week, an increase of 44 percent compared to the 14,863 seen the week before.

While the World Health Organisation said in May that Covid was no longer a “global health emergency,” and doctors say currently circulating strains of the virus in Italy are not a cause for alarm, there are concerns about the impact on elderly and clinically vulnerable people with Italy’s autumn Covid booster campaign yet to begin.

“We have new variants that we are monitoring but none seem more worrying than usual,” stated Fabrizio Maggi, director of the Virology and Biosafety Laboratories Unit of the Lazzaro Spallanzani Institute for Infectious Diseases in Rome

He said “vaccination coverage and hybrid immunity can only translate into a milder disease in young and healthy people,” but added that “vaccinating the elderly and vulnerable continues to be important.”

Updated vaccines protecting against both flu and Covid are expected to arrive in Italy at the beginning of October, and the vaccination campaign will begin at the end of October, Rai reported.

Amid the increase in new cases, Italy’s health ministry last week issued a circular mandating Covid testing on arrival at hospital for patients with symptoms.

Find more information about Italy’s current Covid-19 situation and vaccination campaign on the Italian health ministry’s website (available in English).

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