MILAN (AP): The virus ravaged a nursery school and an elementary school adjacent to the Milan suburb of Bollate with astonishing speed. In a few days, 45 children and 14 staff members had tested positive.
Genetic analysis confirmed what officials already suspected: the highly contagious variant of coronavirus first identified in England ran through the community, a densely populated city of about 40,000 with a chemical plant and the Pirelli bicycle tire factory 15 minutes’ drive from central Milan.
“This is proof that the virus has a kind of intelligence, even if it is a unicellular organism. We can put all the barriers in the world and imagine that they work, but in the end it adapts and penetrates them “, lamented the mayor of Bollate, Francesco Vassallo.
Bollate was the first city in Lombardy, the northern region that has been the epicenter of each of Italy’s three floods, which was sealed by residents due to mutant versions that the World Health Organization claims which are driving another increase in infections across Europe. Variants also include versions first identified in South Africa and Brazil.
Last week, Europe recorded 1 million new cases of COVID-19, a 9% increase over the previous week and a reversal that ended with a six-week decline, the WHO said on Thursday.
“The spread of variants is driving the increase, but not only that,” Dr. Hans Kluge, WHO regional director in Europe, citing “also the openness of society, when it is not done in a safe and controlled way”.
The so-called UK variant is spreading significantly to 27 WHO-controlled European countries and is dominant in at least ten by the agency’s count: Britain, Denmark, Italy, Ireland, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Israel, Spain and Portugal.
It is up to 50% more communicable than the virus that emerged last spring and back in the fall, making it more adept at frustrating measures that were previously effective, WHO experts warned.
“That’s why health systems are fighting harder now,” Kluge said. “It simply came to our notice then. We have to stay strong and be very attentive ”.
In Lombardy, which suffered the weight of the increase in Italian spring, intensive care rooms are being refilled, as more than two-thirds of new positive tests correspond to the UK variant, according to health officials. week.
After putting two provinces and about 50 cities in a modified closure, the Lombardy regional governor announced tough restrictions on Friday and closed classrooms for all age groups. Only cases in schools in Milan increased by 33% in one week, said the head of the provincial health system.
The situation is serious in the Czech Republic, which this week recorded a total record of about 8,500 patients in the hospital with COVID-19. Poland opens temporary hospitals and imposes a partial closure, as the variant has gone from 10% of all infections in February to the current 25%.
Kluge cited Britain’s experience as a cause for optimism, noting that well-regarded restrictions and the introduction of the vaccine have helped reduce variants there and in Israel. In comparison, the deployment of vaccines in the European Union is lagging behind, mainly due to supply problems.
In Britain, the emergence of the most transmissible strain caused cases to skyrocket in December and led to a national blockade in January. Since then, cases have plummeted, from a maximum of about 60,000 a day in early January to about 7,000 a day.
However, a study shows the slowdown in the rate of fall and the government says it will carefully follow plans to ease the blockade. This process begins on Monday with the reopening of schools. Infection rates are higher in people aged 13 to 17 and officials will monitor closely whether returning to class leads to an increase in infections.
Although the UK variant is dominant in France, forcing closures in the city of Nice and on the north coast of Dunkirk, the variant first detected in South Africa has become the most prevalent in the Mosel region. Which borders Germany and Luxembourg. It represents 55% of the virus circulating there.
The South African variant is also predominant in a district of Austria stretching from Italy to Germany, with Austrian officials announcing plans to vaccinate most of the 84,000 residents to curb its spread. Austria also requires drivers on the Brenner Road, a major north-south transport route, to produce negative test results.
The South African variant, currently present in 26 European countries, is a source of special concern due to doubts about whether current vaccines are fully effective against it. The Brazilian variant, which seems capable of reinfecting people, has been detected in 15 European countries.
The WHO and its partners are working to strengthen the genetic surveillance needed to track variants across the continent.
The mayor of Bollate has appealed to the regional governor to vaccinate the 40,000 residents immediately, although he hopes to be told that the supply is too tight at the moment.
Bollate has recorded 3,000 positive cases and 134 deaths, mostly in the elderly, since Italy was affected a year ago. It took weight in November and December, in the fall of the fall, and he was caught completely unawares when the variant arrived, running among school-age children before hitting families at home.
“People are starting to get tired that after a year there is no light at the end of the tunnel,” Vassallo said.
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AP correspondents Jill Lawless in London, Karel Janicek in Prague, Vanessa Gera in Warsaw, Jamey Keaten in Geneva, Sylvie Corbet in Paris, Geir Moulson in Berlin and Jovana Gec in Belgrade contributed.
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