ROME (AP) – The coronavirus variant discovered in Britain is prevalent among schoolchildren infected in Italy and is helping to fuel a “robust” increase in the contagion curve for COVID-19 in the country, the health minister said on Tuesday. market.
Roberto Speranza told reporters that the variant, associated with higher transmission rates, proved to be widespread “among the youngest age group” in the population.
In recent weeks, the incidence of new cases in Italy among young people has already exceeded the incidence among the older population, a reversal of how COVID-19 affected residents in the first months of the pandemic.
Italy, a country of 60 million inhabitants where COVID-19 first broke out in the West in February 2020, recorded almost 3 million confirmed cases.
Speranza announced stricter guidelines, contained in the first anti-pandemic decree of the new Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, with the aim of trying to “govern this contagion curve”, especially among school-age children.
There are “very robust signs of an increase in the contagion curve and terrible variations”, particularly the one discovered in Britain, said the minister.
The president of the government’s Instituto Superior de Saúde, Silvio Brusaferro, said that, after analyzing the cases on February 18, 54% of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Italy involved this variant. But, said Brusaferro, “if measured today, the percentage would certainly be higher.”
Another variant, found in Brazil, is now involved in 4.3% of recent cases of COVID-19 in Italy, said Brusaferro, particularly in central Italy, including the area of the Rome region.
In recent days, authorities have begun to isolate many towns and cities in areas where transmission rates are increasing rapidly. The mayor of Bologna, which has 400,000 residents, announced that, from Thursday to March 21, the city will be under strict rules to block the “red zone”, meaning that all restaurants and cafes are closed for dinners, as well as non-essential stores.
Another critical place is Como, the city by the lake near Switzerland. Many of the citizens of Como cross the border.
The variant found in South Africa is involved in 0.4% of COVID-19 infections in Italy and mainly confined to the Italian alpine area near the Austrian border, said Brusaferro.
Draghi’s decree, which goes into effect on Saturday and runs until April 6, shortly after Easter, tightened up the measures that govern schools. He determines that all schools, including day care centers and elementary school students, in the “red zone” regions must be closed. Some exceptions will be made for students with special needs.
But the decree loosens restrictions in the world of culture. As of March 27, cinemas and theaters may reopen in regions of the “yellow zone” with low rates of incidence and transmission of viruses, but these locations are expected to limit capacity by 25%. Museums in the yellow zones, already authorized to admit the public on weekdays, can also open on weekends from 27 March.
Gyms and swimming pools are closed. There is also a curfew across the country, from 10 pm to 5 am, and a ban on travel between regions in Italy.
The known death toll in Italy, at over 98,000, is the second highest in Europe, behind Britain.