On July 11, 2021, Italy will become European football champions: 10 days later, the number of infections across the country tripled. Particularly affected: young people.
Rome – The rising incidence in Italy is not surprising: just ten days after the lavish celebrations to win the European Football Championship *, the nationwide 7-day incidence has almost tripled. While it was still 12.2 on July 11, 2021, on Wednesday, July 21, 2021, 32.1 infections within seven days per 100,000 inhabitants were calculated. If you take the past 14 days as a yardstick, the numbers have even quintupled.
| Country in the European Union: | Italy |
| Surface: | 301,338 square kilometers |
| Residents: | 60,026,546 (as of June 30, 2020) |
| Country code: | +39 |
| Head of State: | President Sergio Mattarella |
| Head of Government: | Prime Minister Mario Draghi |
They lay in each other’s arms, were very close without a face mask, there was kissing, dancing and toasting. The result is simple: ten days after the European Championship finals, the number of infections skyrocketed up and down the country * – albeit rather moderate compared to other European countries such as Spain or Great Britain.
Corona infections are increasing throughout Italy: the capital Rome and the Lazio region are particularly hard hit
Particularly hard hit across the country: the capital Rome. While there were 293 new infections in Rome between June 28 and July 4, there were almost five times as many cases last week: 1491. This means that Rome has an incidence of more than 50 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
The situation is similar in other parts of the country: Lazio, Veneto, Sardegna and Sicily now also have an incidence of more than 50. And the trend is clear: increasing! And there is a risk that the Italian traffic light system will change to “yellow”. That would mean that there will be night curfews, closed indoor restaurants and mask compulsory – also outdoors.
Incidence in Italy: Government wants to launch new corona rules for the “red zone”
The Italian cabinet wants to adopt the rules for the vaccination certificate and new corona criteria for the so-called yellow, orange and red zones on Thursday. In any case, the experts on the scientific advisory board of Mario Draghi’s government are alarmed and warn of a further, exponential increase in the number of Covid-19 cases – especially since the virus is currently finding the best conditions for spreading it: the beaches are overcrowded during the holiday season.
The Draghi cabinet therefore wants to discuss the introduction of new restrictions and precautionary measures against the spread of Sars-Cov-2. It is almost certain that the presentation of the so-called national green card will be declared unavoidable on Monday for certain activities – such as attending events or the like.
The incidence is increasing across Italy: new infections almost exclusively affect young people
The only reassuring thing about the situation: The new infections almost exclusively affect young people, who only have to deal with a severe course in rare cases. In Rome, the average age of those infected is around 28 years, across Italy it is 29 years. So far, the effects on the Covid departments and intensive care units of the hospitals have been correspondingly small. Their utilization is currently still below five percent across Italy. But what role Long Covid and the long-term corona consequences such as organ damage could play cannot yet be foreseen.
Apart from that, the majority of the risk groups are now vaccinated against Coid-19. Among the criteria for the introduction of new restrictions in the individual regions, the occupancy rate of the hospitals should therefore be weighted more heavily than before.
A vaccine-skeptical mayor in Rome comes at just the right time. Chaos city boss Virginia Raggi refuses to say whether she is vaccinated against Corona or not. The vaccination readiness in Italy should not exactly increase. * Kreiszeitung.de and merkur.de are offered by IPPEN.MEDIA.
