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The Covid variant KP.3.1.1 is wreaking havoc in one of the most popular vacation destinations. Almost 2,000 infected people are being treated in hospital.
Summer, sun, sea, and the coronavirus: in Italy, where around 30 percent of Austrians are spending their summer vacation this year, coronavirus numbers are rising again. According to the National Ministry of Health, 17,006 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the last week of July alone.
The daily newspaper La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno reports that this is an increase of around 24 percent compared to the previous week, with 13,672 new infections.
The new COVID variant KP.3.1.1 is driving the infection rate in Italy, which already dominates in Austria with 56%. The JN.1 derivative has two special mutations in the spike protein that enhance its immune escape properties. In other words, the variant can evade immune defenses more easily, penetrate cells more quickly, and multiply faster.
KP.3.1.1, therefore, appears to be very successful at the moment, particularly around Naples. The Campania region has the highest incidence, with 3,071 new infections. Lombardy and Lazio with Rome are right behind, with 2,957 and 2,450 new cases, respectively.
This increase is also reflected in the country’s hospitals. According to monitoring, 1,829 beds in normal wards were occupied by COVID-19 patients on July 31. A further 55 patients required intensive medical care.
The main symptoms of the new COVID variant are “generally mild and resemble those of a cold or mild flu,” Fabrizio Maggi, Director of Virology at the INMI research institute in Rome, told the newspaper.
- source: heute.at/picture: pixabay.com
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