Italy’s COVID-19 case rate has been climbing for two weeks in a row after a period of decline, according to data released by the country’s High Institute of Health.
The institute, known as ISS, said that the infection rate for the week ending on Thursday (June 16) reached 310 per 100,000 inhabitants, an increase from 222 per 100,000 a week earlier and 207 per 100,000 two weeks before.
In a media interview, Walter Ricciardi, former president of ISS and senior advisor to Italy’s Ministry of Health, said Italy may be guilty of relaxing restrictions too quickly after infection rates and other pandemic indicators fell in recent weeks.
“It’s our third summer (of the pandemic) and we still haven’t learned our lesson,” Ricciardi told ADNKronos. “In the most favorable times for fighting viruses, the spring and summer, we cannot let our guard down, and we must also prepare for unfavorable conditions, in the autumn, and I don’t think any of this is being done.”
Over the 24-hour period ending June 17, Italy recorded more than 35,000 new COVID-19 cases, a surge from around 21,500 a week earlier. The country reported 41 new deaths from COVID-19. Despite the recent increase, the daily infection rate remains far below the peaks of more than 200,000 in mid-January.