ROME (AP) – Italy entered a three-day national confinement against the coronavirus on Saturday to prevent travel and meetings at Easter, even as the peak of new infections fueled by the country’s variants began to subside.
The government had announced last month that it would place all regions in the strictest “red zone” block during Easter weekend to limit the chances of contagion, taking the same precautions it imposed on Christmas and New Year.
Travel between regions and visits to relatives were being limited until Monday. Non-essential stores were closed and restaurants and bars were only open for home delivery.
“People are tired, but they are aware that protecting health is essential in these times,” said Major Fabio Palletta, military police officer Carabinieri who commanded a checkpoint in Rome on Saturday, one of many assembled across the country to this end. weekends to ensure people on the roads were allowed to travel.
The Interior Ministry also ordered extra foot police patrols to prevent large crowds in squares and parks, which during Easter are usually packed with people having picnics.
“I am happy that they are doing checks. It means that something is working in all this mess, ”said Amato Monatanari, who was stopped for a check in Rome.
Italy, where the outbreak in Europe began, recorded more than 110,000 COVID-19 deaths, more than any other European country except Britain. Another 21,000 infections were reported on Saturday in Italy, along with 376 deaths.
It is estimated that 87% of Italy’s most recent cases have been traced to the highly contagious variant first detected in Britain. But the Ministry of Health reported on Friday that, for the second week in a row, the new cases “declined slightly”.
But because Italian hospitals in most regions are still well above their COVID-19 capacity in both intensive care units and other wards, the ministry concluded that the new infections were still “too high … to allow any reduction in current restrictive measures ”.
Italians, however, are upset by the country’s wobbly campaign, which, despite having promised to prioritize the elderly, has left many of Italy’s oldest and most vulnerable behind, while teachers, police and other professionals are punished.
The region of Lombardy, the largest in Italy, suffered more infections and deaths from COVID-19 than any other, but still had a faltering vaccination campaign, gaining a personal visit this week from Italy’s new virus czar, General Francesco Figliuolo.
“There are things that are not going well,” said Figliuolo. “We will write them down and then fix them together.”
More than three months after the start of Italy’s national vaccination campaign, Lombardy opened a new centralized consultation portal this week, after its previous system sent some elderly people hundreds of kilometers from home to receive a vaccine and left others unable to get an appointment.
The combative regional governor of Lombardy, Attilio Fontana, acknowledged “some difficulties”, but insisted that they did not impact the general vaccination campaign. He said the criticisms of the regional effort were “nauseating”.
Italy has administered 10.8 million vaccines across the country, although only 3.3 million of the country’s 60 million inhabitants have received both doses. Lombardy, which has a sixth of the population and has long been proud of its health system, has administered 1.7 million doses.
On Saturday in Sicily, a church temporarily opened its doors to become an instant vaccination center.
“For Christians who celebrate Easter, today it means first of all to be good and honest citizens,” said Fr. Michele Viviano, parish priest in the Salesian parish of Don Bosco in San Gregorio di Catania, Sicily.
“This also means cooperating with the immunization campaign, participating and organizing,” he said.
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