Covid-19 weekly monitoring, report of January 11

In the week under review (January 11-17, 2021), a slight decrease in incidence was observed in the country (145.20 per 100,000 population). The decrease in incidence occurred despite the extension of the case definition from January 15.

The decreasing incidence, however, is still far from levels that would allow the complete restoration of case identification and contact tracing throughout the country. Health care service showed the first signs of criticality when the nationwide figure exceeded 50 cases per 100,000 in seven days, and a criticality of service resilience with high incidences.

In the period from December 30, 2020 - January 12, 2021, the average Rt calculated on symptomatic cases was 0.97 (range 0.85- 1.11), decreasing after five weeks of growth.

In many Regions/PPAAs there is a moderate/high risk, according to the ministerial Decree of April 30, 2020, even with a slight decrease in the probability of SARS-CoV-2 transmission; the impact on care services in most Regions/PPAAs remains high.

The epidemic remains in a delicate phase and a new rapid increase in the number of cases in the coming weeks is possible, if mitigation measures are not strictly maintained at both national and regional level. On a national level, the current framework implies strong inter-regional variations within some regions, where the absolute number of hospitalised patients in critical areas and their relative impact, together with the high incidence, still impose solid restrictive measures.

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