ROME - As of Monday, every Italian region is yellow, with only Puglia, Sicily and Umbria staying orange. The Province of Bolzano has been forced to return to full lockdown, due to the prevalence of the English variant.

  However, some regions have announced the opening of mini red zones, with individual communes being consigned to the highest level of restrictions to stop the spread of the English, Brazilian and South African variants. These include 27 communes in Molise, as well as in Abruzzo and Tuscany, and the city of Perugia.

  The health minister Robert Speranza has said, “maximum prudence is needed thought the country. We must not undermine the progress of the last few weeks, the result of sacrifices made so far. Yellow zone does not mean that we have passed the danger. The virus is circulating and the risk, also because of the variants, remains high. We cannot play with fire.”

  The positivity rate from tests has risen to 5.6 per cent, though cases and deaths are still going down. 

  Only eight regions are currently taking bookings for the vaccine for over 80s, though many of the booking systems have crashed, due to high demand for the much delayed, and limited, vaccine. 

  One study has shown that the AstraZeneca vaccine is less effective on the South African variant, though a health expert and researcher at the Spallanzani hospital, Maria Rosaria Capobianchi, has told the Corriere that these claims come from incomplete data, and that we must avoid circumstances by which doubts are raised and people lose faith in the vaccine.

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