Italy's COVID anniversary commemoration nixed by new variant

ROME (AP) — One of this weekend's main events commemorating the anniversary of the start of Italy’s COVID-19 outbreak was canceled Thursday after a cluster of new infections traced to the British variant forced localized lockdowns in hardest-hit Lombardy and around the country.

Italy’s Superior Institute of Health reported last week that the British variant represented some 18% of all new infections, but predicted that the number would rise quickly as the variant spread. The institute has warned that new restrictions could become necessary to keep the health care system from once again buckling under.

Brescia’s public hospital, which was overwhelmed during the initial outbreak last year, had planned a daylong conference Saturday on lessons learned from the pandemic. It was to feature the intensive care doctor who diagnosed Italy’s first locally transmitted case, as well as the opening of a commemorative art exhibit dedicated to health care workers worldwide.

But the hospital announced Thursday that it was postponing the event out of a sense of responsibility “considering the rapid evolution of the epidemiological situation.”

It noted that four cities in Lombardy region, including one in the province of Brescia, have recently been placed under the strictest “red zone” lockdown measures following spikes of British variant infections. In those cities, all schools were closed and non-essential commercial activities halted, while personal movement was also restricted.

Other red zones have been imposed in cities in the central regions of Umbria, Tuscany, Abruzzo and Lazio, sparking calls for another nationwide lockdown from hospital doctors who are once again seeing their ICU beds fill up.

“I foresee that the national health care system will suffer very heavily," said Dr. Alberto Albani, the regional...