Covid, variants alarm and there is talk of lockdown again

Covid emergency, the variant alarm relating to virus mutations is growing and someone invokes total lockdown again. “In the Italian context, the vaccination of the most fragile population categories are progressing rapidly but have not yet reached sufficient coverage. Therefore the diffusion of variants with greater transmissibility can have a significant impact if adequate mitigation measures are not adopted ".

This is what the Higher Institute of Health underlines in the prevalence study of the VOC variant 202012/01 (United Kingdom) in Italy. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health makes it known that, in the last 24 hours they have registered 7.351 new positive cases (yesterday 11.068). The new deaths are 258 (yesterday 221); the discharged healed today are 11.771 (yesterday 9.469). Overall, the positive cases are 398.098, 4.685 less than yesterday. The swabs carried out are 179.278; in intensive care there are 2089 hospitalized while in home isolation register 377.494 people infected with the virus.

Variants alarm

Due to the variants, the risk associated with a further spread of Covid in the European Union is “currently rated as high-very high for the overall population. Very high for vulnerable individuals ". The ECDC (European Center for Disease Prevention and Control) writes in its updated risk analysis.

"Countries should speed up vaccination campaigns - experts recommend - since variants have greater transmissibility". Hence, the mutations of the virus could "lead to a greater severity of the disease". Furthermore, "existing licensed vaccines may be only partially or largely less effective."

Strict compliance with anti-contagion measures

To "contain and slow down the spread of Covid variants, in analogy with the strategies adopted in other European countries, are necessary: ​​observance, strengthening and increasing risk mitigation measures at local and national level". This is the indication that the experts of the Technical Scientific Committee gave at the end of the meeting in which they analyzed the latest epidemiological data. A meeting in which the study of the Higher Institute of Health on the spread of variants of the virus in Italy was noted.

“The incidence of the epidemic - the technicians and scientists wrote in the minutes at the end of the meeting - is growing again. A situation that exacerbates the sustained impact on health systems ". Consequently, the increased incidence due to variants could lead to a new rapid increase in positive cases in the coming weeks. From that the need for "strict compliance, strengthening and increasing measures".

Variants alert, there are those who hypothesize a new lockdown

They do discuss the statements of Walter ricciardi, advisor to the Minister of Health Roberto Speranza, who hypothesized a rather rigorous lockdown to combat the pandemic. "We need a new total and immediate lockdown". Thus Ricciardi for whom the strategy used so far (the different colors for the regions) turned out to be "ineffective, especially to cope with the greater contagiousness of the variants". Mutations which, apparently, are of great concern.