Slight increase in new cases (+ 4.3%) in the period 18-24 August compared to the previous week, with patients hospitalized in the medical area continuing to rise (+ 16.2%) and also in intensive care (+19, 1%). Deaths are on the rise: 345 in the last 7 days, with an average of 49 per day compared to 34 in the previous week. This is the picture provided by the independent monitoring of the Gimbe Foundation detects a percentage increase in new cases in 8 Regions and that of currently positive cases in 13 Regions. There are 13 provinces with over 150 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
In 68 Provinces, the Gimbe Foundation continues, the incidence is equal to or greater than 50 Covid cases per 100,000 inhabitants: in Emilia-Romagna, Liguria, Sardinia, Sicily, Tuscany and Umbria all the Provinces reach or exceed this threshold. There are 13 provinces with over 150 cases per 100,000 inhabitants: Caltanissetta (318), Ragusa (281), Enna (268), Cagliari (239), Syracuse (234), Trapani (195), Messina (185), Catania (180) ), Reggio Calabria (169), South Sardinia (167), Palermo (163), Prato (163) and Agrigento (156) (table 2).
“The new weekly cases – explains the president of the Gimbe Foundation, Nino Cartabellotta – after stabilization last week, show a slight increase also visible in the moving average of daily cases, while remaining underestimated by insufficient testing and limited activity. contact tracking “.
Albeit in a less clear-cut way, points out the Head of Research on Health Services of the Gimbe Foundation, Renata Gili, “the number of beds occupied in the hospital continues to rise: compared to the previous week + 16.2% in the medical area and +19, 1% in intensive care “. In absolute terms, the number of beds occupied by Covid patients in the medical area went from 1,088 on July 16 to 4,036 on August 24 (+ 271%) and that of intensive care from 151 on July 14 to 504 on August 24. (+ 234%), even if the national figure remains low: 7% in the medical area and 6% in the critical area. However, the regional differences are significant: for the medical area, Sicily (19%) and Calabria (15.2%) are above the 15% threshold; for the critical area above the 10% threshold Sardinia (11%) and Sicily (11%). Finally, “a slight increase in daily admissions to intensive care – points out Gimbe’s operational director, Marco Mosti – with a 7-day moving average of 40 admissions / day compared to 37 in the previous week”.
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