ROME: COVID-19 cases are again surging in Italy, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday, fueling fears of a fresh wave of the pandemic during the summer tourist season.
The government reported on Wednesday nearly 54,000 new infections over the previous 24 hours. A day earlier, there were 62,704 new infections. Accordingly, the past two days produced the highest back-to-back figures in the country since late April.
Italy’s seven-day case count is set to increase for the third consecutive week after eight weeks of decline. The daily infection figures are still far below the peaks of more than 200,000 cases registered in January. The country recorded 50 new deaths from COVID-19 on Wednesday, down from 62 on Tuesday.
Despite the recent increase in infections, health officials said they do not expect mortality or intensive-care patient rates to shoot higher given that Italy’s vaccination campaign has been largely successful.
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