MILAN (AP) – The virus has 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 is the demonstration that the virus has a kind of intelligence, even though it is a single-celled organism. We can put all the barriers in the world and imagine that they work, but in the end, it adapts and penetrates ”, lamented the mayor of Bollate, Francesco Vassallo.
Bollate was the first city in Lombardy, the northern region that was the epicenter in each of Italy’s three waves, to be isolated from its neighbors because of mutant versions that, according to the World Health Organization, are generating another increase in infections in across Europe. The variants also include versions first identified in South Africa and Brazil.
Europe recorded 1 million new cases of COVID-19 last week, an increase of 9% over the previous week and a reversal that ended a six-week decline, 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 so-called UK variant is spreading significantly in 27 European countries monitored by WHO and is dominant in at least 10 by the agency’s count: 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.
“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 was impacted by the spring increase in Italy, intensive care units are again filling up, as more than two-thirds of the new positive tests are from the UK variant, health officials said this week.
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 age groups. Cases in schools in Milan alone increased by 33% in one week, said the head of the province’s health system.
The situation is dire in the Czech Republic, which recorded a record total of almost 8,500 patients in the hospital with COVID-19 this week. Poland is opening temporary hospitals and imposing a partial block, as the variant has grown from 10% of all infections in February to 25% now.
Kluge cited Britain’s experience as a cause of optimism, noting that well-considered restrictions and the introduction of the vaccine helped to contain the variants there and in Israel. Vaccine implantation in the European Union, by comparison, is delayed, 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 at the peak in early January to about 7,000 a day.
Still, a study shows that the rate of decline is slowing, and the 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.
Although 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 Moselle region, bordering Germany and Luxembourg. It represents 55% of the virus that circulates there.
The South African variant is also prevalent in an Austrian district that extends from Italy to Germany, with Austrian authorities announcing plans to vaccinate the majority of the 84,000 residents to contain its spread. Austria is also demanding that drivers along the Brenner highway, an important north-south transport route, produce negative test results.
The South Africa variant, now present in 26 European countries, is a source of particular concern because of doubts about whether current vaccines are fully effective 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 offer is very tight at the moment.
Bollate has recorded 3,000 positive cases and 134 deaths – mostly among the elderly – since Italy was hit a year ago. It suffered the impact in November and December, with the resurgence of autumn, and was caught completely off guard when the 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.
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AP Jill Lawless correspondents in London, Karel Janicek in Prague, Vanessa Gera in Warsaw, Jamey Keaten in Geneva, Sylvie Corbet in Paris, Geir Moulson in Berlin and Jovana Gec in Belgrade contributed.
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