The new cases of COVID-19 They start to rise again. In the last week there has been a increase of 28.1% compared to last week for a total of 34,319 new infections. The number of deaths also increases: there were 192, with an increase of 17.8% compared to the previous week. The occupancy of hospital beds also increased slightly, as did the Rt index, which reached 0.93, still remaining below the epidemic threshold of 1.
The data
The data from the latest weekly newspaper from the Ministry of Health and the Higher Institute of Health do not seem to raise particular concern, given a controlled situation in hospitals, but they invite caution. «The figures, although substantially stable in the most significant indices, that is, the impact on hospital structures, determine the need for greater commitment on the part of all Regions both in terms of communication and organization of vaccination in defense of the most vulnerable,” said the general director of Health Prevention of the Ministry of Health, Francesco Vaia which about 10 days ago had urged the Regions to put their foot on the accelerator of anti-Covid vaccination.
Vaccines
In fact, these have not taken off: so far, 669,935 doses of the anti-Covid Comirnaty
The resumption of infections region by region
Meanwhile, the report shows a recovery in infections, with the incidence going from 46 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants last week to 58 in the last 7 days. Among the Regions, Veneto is the one with the highest rates (130 cases per 100,000 inhabitants), followed by Piedmont (96) and Lombardy (93). While among the age groups, the most affected are those over ninety (132 cases per 100 thousand). The increase in the circulation of the virus is also evident from the data on positive swabs: 224,522 tests carried out in the last week, with a variation of +13.5% compared to the previous week (197,818). The positivity rate was 15.3% with a variation of +1.7% compared to the previous week (13.5%).
Eris, the dominant variant
The majority variant continues to be EG.5 (Eris), responsible for approximately half of the infections. Regarding mortality, those over ninety years of age are the segment of the population in which the highest death rate is recorded (44 per 100 thousand), while there are no deaths under the age of 50. Regarding the pressure on the health service, bed occupancy in the medical area remains limited, equivalent to 6.7% (4,167 hospitalized), an increase compared to the previous week when it was 5.9%. The occupancy of intensive care beds also increased slightly: it is equivalent to 1.4% (122 hospitalized) compared to 1.2% last week.
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