ROME (AP) – The variant of the coronavirus discovered in Britain is common among infected schoolchildren in Italy and helps fuel a ‘robust’ rise in the COVID-19 infection curve in the country. the health minister said Tuesday.
Roberto Speranza told reporters that the variant, which is associated with higher transmission rates, consistently showed “among the youngest age group” of the population.
In recent weeks, Italy’s prevalence of new cases among young people has obscured the prevalence among the older population, a reversal of how COVID-19 residents plagued residents in the first months of the pandemic.
Italy, a nation of 60 million people where COVID-19 first erupted in the West in February 2020, has registered nearly 3 million confirmed cases.
Speranza has announced stricter guidelines, contained in the first anti-pandemic decision of the new Italian prime minister, Mario Draghi, aimed at trying to govern ‘this contagion curve’, especially among school-going children.
There are ‘fairly robust signs of an increase in the curve of contamination and terrible variants’, especially the one discovered in Britain, the minister said.
The president of the Superior Institute of Health, Silvio Brusaferro, said that as of February 18, 54% of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Italy involve the variant. But, Brusaferro said, “if measured today, the percentage would be higher.”
Another variant, which occurs in Brazil, is now involved in 4.3% of recent COVID-19 cases in Italy, Brusaferro said, particularly in central Italy, including the region of Rome.
Over the past few days, authorities have targeted many towns and cities in areas where the transmission rate is increasing rapidly. The mayor of Bologna, which has 400,000 inhabitants, announced that from Thursday and until March 21, the city will be under strict lock-in rules of the “red zone” condition, which means that all restaurants and cafes are closed for eating, as well as non-essential stores.
Another important place is Como, the city next to the lake near Switzerland. Many of Como’s citizens commute across the border.
The variant found in South Africa is involved in 0.4% of COVID-19 infections in Italy and is mainly confined to the Italian Alps region near the border with Austria, Brusaferro said.
Draghi’s decision, which takes effect on Saturday and lasts until April 6, until just after Easter, has tightened measures for schools. It stipulates that all schools, including pre-school and primary school pupils, must be closed in the “red zone” areas. Some exceptions will be made for students with special needs.
But the decision loosens restrictions in the cultural world. From March 27, cinemas and theaters can reopen in “yellow zone” areas with low prevalence and virus transmission, but these venues must limit capacity to 25%. Museums in yellow regions, which already allow the public on weekdays, can also open on weekends from 27 March.
Gymnasiums and swimming pools remain closed. There is also a nationwide departure time from 22:00 to 05:00 and a ban on travel between the Italian regions.
Italy’s known death toll of more than 98,000 is the second highest in Europe, after Britain.