The number of new daily coronavirus infections in Italy jumped 38% higher on Friday, with 552 confirmed cases recorded compared to the previous day.
Italy had not seen such a high volume of new cases since the end of May. Just two weeks ago, Italy was registering around 200 new cases a day.
The northeastern Veneto region, which performed nearly 16,500 swab tests in one day, recorded around a third of these new cases —183.
Veneto Governor Luca Zaia said the new infections were discovered in recently returned residents from Spain, Peru, Malta, Croatia and Greece.
“Holidays are a risk,” he said in his daily briefing. “Everyone has to decide where they want to go on vacation, but it is also true that with us, for a few weeks now, we have seen a concentration of infected patients on vacation”.
Northern Italy is where the country’s outbreak began in February and has recorded the highest number of cases and deaths throughout the pandemic.
But recently, many other clusters of infection have occurred in central and southern Italy. Most of these cases were linked to the return of foreigners to work on farms, restaurants or hotels or to migrants rescued at sea.
Three more deaths were recorded on Friday, bringing the toll from the confirmed pandemic in Italy to 35,190. Experts say figures for all countries are undercounted, due to limited tests and missed cases.
The Italian authorities have also tried to suppress nightlife in tourist spots like the islands of Capri and Ponza or in the bar districts of cities like Rome, Milan and Naples. Italy requires masks to be worn outdoors if social distancing cannot be maintained. Many outdoor cafes and bars drew crowds of young people, most of them not wearing masks.
Italy’s health ministry says the average age of those infected in recent weeks has fallen to 40, from around 61 at the start of the pandemic.
Other European countries have reported an increase in cases in recent days.
France reported on Thursday that it had recorded 1604 new cases daily and that the number of infections recorded in the previous week was 33% higher than the previous week.
Health officials noted that “the incidence has increased in all age groups, but is particularly marked among 20-30 year olds.”
They reiterated “even on vacation, even in summer, the virus is still there” and urged people to remain vigilant and adhere to social distancing measures.
In Belgium, the average daily increase for the week ending August 3 was 46 percent more than that recorded for the week ending July 7 – 550 cases against 377. However, the number of hospitalizations and deaths remained stable.
In England, where 871 new cases were recorded on Thursday, local restrictions in around 20 councils in Greater Manchester, Lancashire, West Yorkshire and Leicester were extended by a week on Friday.
“Yesterday I chaired a meeting of the Gold Committee for Local Action, and unfortunately the data does not yet show a decrease in the transmission of this terrible virus,” said Matt Hancock said in a statement.
In Germany, 1,147 more cases have been recorded in the past 24 hours, up from 870 a week ago.
“In recent weeks, the number of districts reporting zero cases of COVID-19 over a 7-day period has significantly decreased. At the same time, the incidence of COVID-19 has increased in many federal states. This trend is worrying, ”the Robert Koch Institute said in his daily report.
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