MILAN (AP) – The virus has swept through a kindergarten and an adjacent elementary school in the suburbs of Milan Bollate with astonishing speed. In just a few days, 45 children and 14 staff members gave positive results.
Genetic analysis confirmed what officials already suspected: the highly contagious coronavirus variant first identified in England as community racing, a dense city packed with nearly 40,000 with a chemical factory and Pirelli bicycle tire factory within a 15-minute walk by car from the heart of Milan.
“This is proof that the virus has a kind of intelligence, even if it is a single-celled organism. We can put all the barriers in the world and we can imagine that it works, 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 was the epicenter in each of Italy’s three surges, to be closed by neighbors because of mutant versions that the World Health Organization says now spur an increase in infections in Europe. . Variants also include versions first identified in South Africa and Brazil.
Europe recorded 1 million new cases of COVID-19 last week, a 9% increase from the previous week and a reversal that ended a six-week decline, the WHO said on Thursday.
“The spread of variation drives growth, but not only,” said Dr. Hans Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, citing “the openness of society when it is not done in a safe and controlled way.”
The so-called British variant spreads significantly in 27 European countries monitored by the WHO and is dominant in at least 10 by agency number: Great Britain, Denmark, Italy, Ireland, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Israel, Spain and Portugal.
It is up to 50% more transmissible than the virus that grew last spring and again in the fall, making it more adept at counteracting previously effective measures, WHO experts have warned.
“That’s why health systems are fighting harder now,” Kluge said. “It simply came to our notice then. We have to be strong and very vigilant. “
In Lombardy, which has borne the brunt of Italy’s spring growth, intensive care units are filling up again, as more than two-thirds of the new positive tests are in the UK version, health officials said this week.
After putting two provinces and about 50 cities in a modified blockade, Lombardy’s 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 record number of almost 8,500 patients in hospital with COVID-19. Poland opens temporary hospitals and imposes a partial blockade, as the variant has risen from 10% of all infections in February to 25% now.
Kluge cited the UK’s experience as a reason for optimism, noting that well-considered restrictions and the introduction of the vaccine have helped reduce variations there and in Israel. The launch of the vaccine in the European Union, by comparison, is lagging behind, mainly due to supply problems.
In the UK, the emergence of the more transmissible strain caused cases to rise in December and trigger a national deadlock in January. Since then, cases have dropped from about 60,000 a day at the peak in early January to about 7,000 a day.
However, a study shows a slowdown in the decline, and the government says it will take prudent steps to ease the blockade. This process begins on Monday with the reopening of schools. Infection rates are highest among 13- to 17-year-olds, and officials will be watching closely to see if a return to schooling leads to an increase in infections.
While the British variant is dominant in France, forcing blockades in the city of Nice on the French Riviera and in the northern port of Dunkirk, the variant first detected in South Africa has emerged as the most widespread in the Moselle region, which borders Germany and Luxembourg. It represents 55% of the virus circulating there.
The South African variant is also prevalent in a district of Austria stretching from Italy to Germany, with Austrian officials announcing plans to vaccinate most of its 84,000 residents to reduce its spread. Austria also requires drivers along the Brenner motorway, a main north-south transport route, to produce negative test results.
The South African variant, now present in 26 European countries, is a source of particular concern due to doubts that current vaccines are fully effective against it. The Brazilian variant, which seems capable of reinforcing people, has been detected in 15 European countries.
WHO and its partners are working to strengthen the genetic surveillance needed to track variants on the continent.
The mayor of Bollate has called on the regional governor to immediately vaccinate all 40,000 residents, although he is expected to be told that supplies are too tight at the moment.
Bollate has recorded 3,000 positive cases and 134 deaths – mostly among the elderly – since Italy was affected a year ago. He gained weight in November and December, in the autumn reappearance, and was caught completely unpredictable when the variant arrived, racing 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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