COVID: 20.6% drop in cases, ICUs -20%, deaths -16%, GIMBE

- ROME, FEB 24 - The number of new COVID-19 cases registered in Italy between February 16 and 22 was down by 20.6% (or 349,122) compared to the 32% decrease registered over the previous week, the GIMBE medical foundation said Thursday in its weekly monitoring report on the coronavirus pandemic.
    A drop was also registered in the total number of tests carried out over the past week (-19.6%), GIMBE noted.
    All regions during the same period recorded a decrease of new cases: from -0.5% in Calabria to -35.9% in Friuli-Venezia Giulia.
    The report said the pressure COVID-19 is exerting on Italy's hospitals has continued to fall.
    Over the past seven days, COVID admissions to ordinary hospital wards were down 16.2% while admissions to intensive care units dropped by 19.9%.
    It said the number of COVID-19 deaths recorded in the period in question continued to decline in a stable trend, down by 15.8% (1,828 deaths) compared to the previous week.
    Between February 9 and 14, GIMBE had registered a 14.9% drop in admissions to ordinary hospital wards, a 18.7% decline in ICU admissions and a 16% drop in deaths.
    The report added that only 59,000 people had been vaccinated, with a drop in immunizations for all over-50s (-44%) and in the age group between 5 and 11 years of age (-57%), during the week between February 16 and 22.
    GIMBE said 4.9 million people in Italy are still unvaccinated while 2.17 have recovered from the virus and are only temporarily protected.
    A reported 84.9% have received a third dose of the vaccine, with a significant difference between regions, GIMBE added.