The virus spread through a day care center and an adjacent elementary school in the Milan suburb of Bollate with incredible speed. In a matter of a few days, 45 children and 14 employees were positive.
Genetic analysis confirmed what the authorities already suspected: the highly contagious coronavirus variant first identified in England was running through the community, a densely populated city of almost 40,000 with a chemical plant and a Pirelli bicycle tire factory a 15-minute drive to the center of Milan.
“This demonstrates that the virus has a kind of intelligence. … We can put all the barriers in the world and imagine that they work, but in the end, it adapts and penetrates them ”, lamented Mayor Bollate, Francesco Vassallo.
Bollate was the first city in Lombardy, the northern region that has been the epicenter in each of Italy’s three waves, to be isolated from its neighbors because of variants of the virus that, according to the World Health Organization, are generating another increase in infections in Europe. The variants also include versions first identified in South Africa and Brazil.
Europe recorded 1 million new cases of COVID-19 last week, a 9 percent increase from the previous week and a reversal that ended a six-week decline in new infections, the WHO said on Thursday.
“The spread of variants is driving the increase, but not only,” said Dr. Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, citing “also the opening of society, when it is not done in a safe and controlled manner. “
The variant found for the first time in the United Kingdom is spreading significantly in 27 European countries monitored by WHO and is dominant in at least 10 countries: Great Britain, Denmark, Italy, Ireland, Germany, France, Holland, Israel, Spain and Portugal .
It is up to 50% more transmissible than the virus that appeared last spring and again in the fall, making it better able to prevent measures that were previously effective, warned WHO experts. Scientists have concluded that it is also more deadly.
“That is why health systems are struggling more now,” said Kluge. “It really is at a critical point. We have to keep the fort and be very vigilant. “
In Lombardy, which has been impacted by the spring increase in Italy, intensive care units are again filling up, with more than two-thirds of the new positive tests being the UK variant, health officials said.
After placing two provinces and about 50 cities in a modified blockade, the regional governor of Lombardy announced stricter restrictions on Friday and closed classrooms for all ages. Cases in schools in Milan alone have risen 33 percent in a week, said the head of the province’s health system.
The situation is dire in the Czech Republic, which this week recorded a record total of almost 8,500 patients hospitalized with COVID-19. Poland is opening temporary hospitals and imposing a partial block, as the UK variant has grown from 10% of all infections in February to 25% now.
Two patients from the hard-hit Slovakia were due to arrive on Saturday for treatment in Germany, where authorities said they had volunteered to receive 10 patients.
Kluge cited Britain’s experience as a cause of optimism, noting that widespread restrictions and the introduction of the vaccine helped to contain the variants there and in Israel. The launch of the vaccine in the European Union, by comparison, is long overdue, mainly because of supply problems.
In Britain, the emergence of the most communicable strain increased cases in December and triggered a national blockade in January. Since then, cases have plummeted, from about 60,000 a day in early January to about 7,000 a day now.
Still, a study shows that the rate of decline is slowing, and the British government says it will proceed with caution with plans to ease the blockade. This process begins on Monday with the reopening of schools. Infection rates are highest in people aged 13 to 17, and officials will be watching to see if returning to school brings an increase in infections.
While the UK variant is dominant in France, forcing blockages in the city of Nice, on the French Riviera, and in the port of Dunkirk to the north, the variant first detected in South Africa has emerged as the most prevalent in the French region of Moselle. , which borders Germany and Luxembourg. It represents 55 percent of the virus that circulates there.
Austria’s health minister said on Saturday that the UK variant is now dominant in his country. But the South Africa variant is also a concern in an Austrian district that extends from Italy to Germany, with Austrian authorities announcing plans to vaccinate the majority of the 84,000 residents there to contain its spread. Austria is also demanding that drivers along the Brenner highway, an important north-south route, have negative test results.
The South Africa variant, now present in 26 European countries, is a source of particular concern due to doubts about whether current vaccines are effective enough against it. The Brazilian variant, which seems capable of reinfecting people, was detected in 15 European countries.
WHO and its partners are working to strengthen the genetic surveillance needed to track variants across the continent.
The mayor of Bollate called on the regional governor to vaccinate all 40,000 residents immediately, although he hopes to be informed that the vaccine supply is very tight.
Bollate has recorded 3,000 positive cases and 134 deaths – mostly among the elderly – since Italy was hit a year ago. It suffered the most from the resurgence in November and December and was taken by surprise when the UK variant arrived, passing through schoolchildren before reaching families at home.
“People are starting to get tired because after a year there is no light at the end of the tunnel,” said Vassallo.
You make MPR News possible. Individual donations are behind the clarity in covering our reporters across the state, stories that connect us and conversations that provide perspectives. Help ensure that MPR remains a resource that brings together Minnesotans.
Donate today. A $ 17 gift makes the difference.