Covid Italy, report: contagion curve points up, + 36% in 7 days

The curve of Covid infections in Italy “points high”, cases have grown by “36% in 7 days”. The inversion “is clear”. This is revealed by the independent monitoring of the Gimbe Foundation which in the week 9-15 March, compared to the previous one, photographs the increase in new cases: almost 380 thousand (379,792), against 279 thousand. On the other hand, the decrease in deaths continues (976 against 1,201) which is equal to -18.7%. The currently positive cases rise to 1,036,124 (they were 1,011,521) and the number of people in home isolation also increased (1,027,149 against 1,002,153). “After five weeks of decline and the arrest of the descent last week – declares Nino Cartabellotta, president of the Gimbe Foundation – the curve of new weekly cases is clearly reversed, which amount to around 379 thousand, with an increase of 35, 9% and a 7-day moving average that rises from about 40 thousand cases on March 8 to over 54 thousand on March 15 (+30.3). A trend reversal that recognizes various causes: from population relaxation to spread of the more contagious variant Omicron BA.2 “, Omicron 2,” from the decline in vaccine protection against infection to the persistence of low temperatures that force indoor activities “. In the week 9-15 March there was a percentage increase in new cases in all regions except Valle D’Aosta: they range from + 70% in Umbria to + 3% in Molise. In all provinces, except Isernia and Aosta, there is a percentage increase in new cases compared to the previous week. The provinces with incidence exceeding 500 cases per 100,000 inhabitants rose from 48 to 66, of which 17 exceed 1,000 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. STOP DESCENT IN ADMISSIONS – Meanwhile, the decline in Covid hospitalizations in the medical area is slowing down (it was 3.5% in the last week) while the pace of decline in intensive care and deaths remains stable. Hospitalizations with symptoms drop to 8,473 (from 8,776 the previous week) and intensive care goes from 592 to 502. “On the hospital front – says Renata Gili, Head of Research on Health Services of the Gimbe Foundation – there is a further reduction in beds occupied by Covid patients in intensive care (-15.2%), while the increase in the number of new cases slows the decline of those in the medical area (-3.5%) “. In particular, in the critical area from the peak of 1,717 on January 17, hospitalizations drop to 502 on March 15. In the medical area, from the peak of 19,913 on January 31, hospitalizations fell to a minimum of 8,234 on March 12 and then climbed back to 8,473 on March 15. As of March 15, the national employment rate for Covid patients was 13% in the medical area and 5.3% in the critical area. Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Puglia, Sardinia, Sicily and Umbria exceed the threshold of 15% in the medical area, with the Calabria region reaching 29.7%. On the other hand, no Region goes beyond the 10% threshold in intensive care. “After two months of reduction – points out Marco Mosti, Operational Director of the Gimbe Foundation – the number of daily admissions to intensive care stabilizes, whose 7-day moving average is 41 daily compared to 43 of the previous week”.