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HEALTH

Coronavirus death toll in Italy tops 60,000

The death toll from Covid-19 has passed the 60,000 mark, according to official figures from the Italian government.

Published: 7 December 2020 08:49 CET
Coronavirus death toll in Italy tops 60,000
A priest blesses graves in Bergamo, Lombardy, the part of Italy hit hardest by the coronavirus outbreak. AFP
Restrictive measures aimed at stemming the spread of the virus have nonetheless eased in several regions as the rate of infection stabilised in many areas.
 
Italy, the first European country to be hit by the global pandemic, has now recorded 60,078 deaths from 1,728,878 infections in total, the health ministry reported on Sunday evening.
 
Despite steps the government has taken to curb infections and care for the sick, hundreds of people are still dying daily.
 
Italy saw a record 993 deaths on Thursday, the highest toll since the outbreak began in the first months of the year.
 
 
Italy is believed to be among the countries with the highest number of deaths among its population with 98 fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants.
 
Its mortality rate, or the ratio of deaths to infections, has been calculated at 3.47 percent. Only Britain has a higher rate in Europe, with 3.55 percent.
 
However, Italian health experts were quick to point out last month that the apparent lethality rate figure “means nothing” in Italy, because of the way it is calculated, and that it is difficult to compare Italy with most other European countries because of its unusual demographics.
 
 
The Italian government on Friday brought in a set of new rules aimed at stemming the spread of the viirus.
 
It included tougher restrictions on travel to and within Italy as the government fears a third wave of infections could be triggered by festive gatherings.
 
Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza warned that “if we drop our guard, we run the risk of finding ourselves in January and February facing a new (infection) surge.
 
“And that we cannot allow,” he told SkyTG24 television.
 
He announced a ban on movements between regions from December 21 until January 6, including on visiting second homes.
 
 
There is also a ban on moving from one town to another for December 25 and 26 as well as on January 1.
 
A curfew from 10 pm until 5 am remains in place, lasting until 7am on New
Year's Day.
 
Ski slopes and mechanical lifts are to remain closed until January 7.

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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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