A region already in yellow: Friuli Venezia Giulia. Another territory in the balance: the autonomous province of Bolzano, which has already decided, however, an autonomous crackdown to avoid the lockdown. Veneto and Valle d’Aosta with rapidly growing infections (about 200 weekly cases per 100 thousand inhabitants). And among the larger regions, worsening numbers in Lazio and Lombardy, with Covid patient admissions in the ordinary wards increased respectively to 10 and 11 percent of the total available beds (the threshold for passing yellow). It is the photograph of the fourth wave underway in Italy.
A situation not comparable to that of last fall, thanks to vaccines. But with respect to which the insiders do not hide concern. “Within a month the hospital system of intensive care risks dangerously clogging”. This is the alarm raised by Antonino Giarratano, president of the Italian Society of Anesthesia, analgesia, resuscitation and intensive care (Siaarti), who adds: “This situation will soon add to the seasonal flu that causes about 8,000 deaths among the most fragile patients and that in the next few weeks it will begin to circulate in our country, leading to a crowding of dangerous and probably unsustainable shelters ».
Friuli Venezia Giulia already in the yellow zone
The consolidated data concerns Friuli Venezia Giulia, which is the region with the most critical situation. It is no coincidence that it is already in fact in the yellow zone (mandatory mask even outdoors, closed discos and half the capacity for cinemas and theaters). This passage will be certified next Friday from the control room. In Friuli Venezia Giulia (309 weekly cases per 100 thousand inhabitants) there are the two provinces with the highest incidence in Italy: Trieste (687) and Gorizia (492). Not only. Both thresholds on the admissions front, above which yellow is triggered, have been abundantly exceeded (which are 10% of beds occupied in intensive care and 15% in other wards). We are respectively 15% and 17%, with numbers constantly growing.
South Tyrol in the balance, closed the discos and local red areas
South Tyrol is poised between white and yellow. In Bolzano, the infections are at 418 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants. Intensive care is stable around the 10 percent threshold. But hospitalizations in other wards have grown by up to 16%. It is no coincidence that an ordinance was signed that anticipates the national squeeze. With closed discos and the obligation to wear an outdoor mask in any case of gathering, and therefore for example in city centers, squares, markets, in rows; monché the obligation to wear an Ffp2 mask on public transport. While in the “red” municipalities (with a weekly incidence rate of more than 800 cases per 100,000 inhabitants and with vaccination coverage of less than 70%) bars and restaurants must close at 6 pm and a curfew is applied between 8 and 5 pm. Closed theaters and cinemas . Obligation of Ffp2 also in shops.
By intervening rigorously in the areas most affected by the fourth wave, Bolzano hopes to avoid even more restrictive measures, such as the Austrian lockdown, and a new setback for trade and tourism in view of the holidays. The fact that the province of Bolzano is in the penultimate place for vaccinated population weighs heavily: 78.4% compared to a national average of 84.6%.