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HEALTH

Italy records highest ever daily Covid death toll

Italy on Thursday recorded its highest daily death toll from Covid-19 with 993 fatalities in the last 24 hours, despite a downward trend in infection rates.

Italy records highest ever daily Covid death toll
A man touches his mother's coffin in the cemetery of Seriate, Lombardy. Photo: Piero Cruciatti/AFP

EXPLAINED: Why is Italy's coronavirus death toll so high?

The official tally on Thursday surpassed the previous grim record of 969 deaths, set on March 27th, when Italy was under national lockdown after becoming the first European country to be hit by the global pandemic.

The Covid-19 death toll now stands at 58,038.

The daily toll has been markedly high since late November, with authorities warning on the 24th that the country could expect the number to remain high for at least “10-12 days”.

However this is the first time the figure has been higher than in March.

This is despite the fact that the number of new infections is now falling in most parts of the country.
 
The health ministry reported 23,225 new cases on Thursday, compared to 40,902 on November 13.
 
The number of people currently infected has also been falling since the end of November.
 
 
The government imposed a nationwide shutdown when coronavirus first hit that brought infection rates under control, but had the effect of crippling the economy.
 
After cases began to rise again in October, bars and restaurants were shut in the early evening and a nationwide night curfew imposed, with tougher measures in the hardest-hit areas.
 
Ministers say this regional approach is working, but have warned people in Italy not to let down their guard
 
New measures covering the Christmas holidays, a time when many people would travel to see family, are expected to be unveiled later on Thursday evening.
 

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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.

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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