COVID-19 epidemic now widespread throughout Italy - ISS

(ANSA) - ROME, OCT 28 - Silvio Brusaferro, the head of Italy's Higher Health Institute (ISS), said Wednesday that COVID-19 contagion was widespread throughout Italy at the moment.
    The situation, therefore, is different from that of the first wave of contagion, when the coronavirus hit several northern regions much harder than the rest of the country.
    "Today the epidemic is no longer confined to certain areas, it is widespread throughout Italy," Brusaferro told a hearing of the Senate's health and hygiene committee.
    "The Rt index, which describes the speed of its spread, gives an idea of the growth (in contagion) that we are having.
    "It is over 1 in all regions and is much over that in many".
    Brusaferro said the average age of people to test positive for COVID-19 is 40 at the moment, down from 60-70 at the peak of the first wave but up from around 30 in the summer. (ANSA).