Roundup: Italy reports nearly 23,000 new COVID-19 cases as some see "third wave"

0 Comment(s)Print E-mail Xinhua, March 5, 2021
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ROME, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Italy on Thursday reported 22,865 new coronavirus cases, up from 20,884 cases recorded on Wednesday and bringing total active infections to 446,439.

The Ministry of Health reported that another 339 COVID-19 patients have died, down from 347 deaths on Wednesday and pushing to 98,974 the death toll since the pandemic officially started in the country in late February 2020.

Meanwhile, another 13,488 COVID-19 patients have recovered, down from 14,068 recoveries on Wednesday and pushing overall recoveries to 2,453,706.

Of the total current infections, the vast majority, or 423,807 people, are isolated at home with mild or no symptoms, while 20,157 are hospitalized with symptoms. Another 2,475 are treated in intensive care units, up by 232 compared to Wednesday.

Also on Thursday, the Gimbe Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to disseminating scientific evidence and knowledge for better public health services, said that according to its independent monitoring report, new cases have jumped by 33 percent between Feb. 24 and March 2.

The foundation said that the rise has "marked the start of the third wave" of the pandemic.

Italy is in the midst of a "vertiginous acceleration due to the variants" while "the mass vaccination campaign is failing to take off" due to "organizational difficulties" in many of Italy's 20 regions, the foundation claimed.

Over 4.9 million people in Italy have been given at least the first dose of a coronavirus vaccine, and more than 1.5 million of them have received both shots, the Ministry of Health reported on Thursday.

The recipients included health care staff, nursing home residents and staff, people aged over 80, the military, and school staff.

Also on Thursday, Economic Development Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti met with European Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton, who heads the European task force on vaccines in Rome, to talk about reinforcing vaccine production in Europe, the Ministry for Economic Development said in a statement.

"The Italian pharmaceutical industry is a sector we can be proud of and is capable of ensuring the production of the vaccines in all its phases," Giorgetti commented, adding that he and Breton examined the possibility for Italian companies to "participate in the European vaccine production plan, both in terms of capacity and in terms of technology transfer."

The minister also said that he is at work on the creation of a national vaccine hub in Italy. This will be a public-private partnership that will be backed initially by the state, which will "allocate significant resources" to this effort, according to the ministry's statement. Enditem

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