In the last week, hospitalizations and deaths from Covid in Italy continue to rise, while the trend of new infections is confirmed to be decreasing. A trend that at the same time sees a slight increase in new vaccines even if the number of people who have taken the fourth dose is still low. In the background, concern remains over the possible emergence of new variants of the SarsCoV2 virus and, at the moment, all eyes are on a recently reported new sub-variant, XBB. And one case was registered in Abruzzo, according to what emerged from the latest flash survey by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, relating to a sample of positive cases last October 4th. The case in question, sequenced by the Molecular Genetics Laboratory – Covid-19 Test of the University of Chieti, concerns a patient of foreign origin. According to the WHO, based on initial data, the sub-variant has a higher ability to evade the immune system response, but does not appear to cause more severe forms of the disease. As of October 17, about 800 XBB subvariant samples have been sequenced, WHO reported. However, XBB does not appear to cause a more severe form of the disease for the time being.
The updated picture of the epidemic trend comes from the independent monitoring of the Gimbe Foundation for the week 12-18 October. Consequently, in the last week, Covid infections have returned (-6.2%), but ordinary hospitalizations (+ 11.7%), intensive care (+ 13.4%) and deaths (+38) are increasing. , 4%). Gimbe notes a decrease in new cases (275,628 against 293,902) which affects all regions except Puglia, Sardinia and Sicily. On the other hand, the occupancy of beds in the medical area increased (+734) which, after reaching the minimum of 3,293 on 24 September, reached 6,993 on 18 October. Intensive also increased (+30). And deaths are growing (544 against 393) with an average of 78 per day. As of October 18, the national employment rate by Covid patients was 11% in the medical area (from 5.1% in Molise and Puglia to 50.7% in Valle D’Aosta) and 2.8% in critical area (from 0% in Basilicata and Molise to 7.7% in Valle D’Aosta). Percentages growing but still well below the alert thresholds, set at 15% for the medical area and 10% for intensive care.
On the vaccination campaign front, however, the national coverage for the fourth doses of the anti-Covid vaccine is equal to only 20% and therefore 4 out of 5 people are discovered. Almost 34,300 daily administrations are, an increase compared to 28,469 last week. , but to date still 6.8 million unvaccinated Italians. In the last week, however, the new vaccinates increased: 1,484 compared to 1,340 in the previous week (+ 10.7%).
In the 24 hours, the numbers of the pandemic remain substantially stable. There are 40,563 new cases of Covid-19, up from 41,712 yesterday, according to the daily update of the Ministry of Health. The victims are 84, against 81 yesterday. The positivity rate is 17.70% (yesterday it was 17.9%) and the molecular and antigenic swabs performed were 229,140, against 233,084 the previous day. In hospitals, 242 patients were admitted to intensive care (yesterday they were 251), while there were 7,025 hospitalized in ordinary wards, compared to 7,062 the previous day.
Even at a global level, the World Health Organization notes, the new cases of Covid-19 continue to decline. According to the latest WHO bulletin, 2.9 million cases occurred in the week between 10 and 16 October, 6% less than the previous week. And there were over 8 thousand deaths, with a decrease of 17% compared to 7 days earlier. Among the various countries, however, Italy ranks fourth in the world for the number of new weekly cases in the period considered and third for deaths.