The COVID-19 pandemic risks becoming "uncontrolled and unmanageable" in Italy, according to the weekly monitoring report on the coronavirus by the health ministry and the Higher Health Institute (ISS).
The report said the situation was clearly deteriorating and the Rt transmission index in Italy was 1.72 during the October 15-28 period- It added that almost all of Italy's regions had a Rt number of over 1.5.
Lombardy, the Italian region hit hardest by the first wave of the coronavirus, had the highest Rt number, at 2.08.
The only regions with RT numbers under 1.5 were Sardinia (1.24), Marche (1.29), Lazio (1.36), Sicily (1.4). and Liguria (1.48).
Last week Premier Giuseppe Conte's government introduced a three-tier system of restrictions to combat the upswing in COVID cases.
This saw Calabria, Lombardy, Piedmont and Val d'Aosta go into a soft lockdown after being classed as high-contagion-risk red zones.
The autonomous province of Bolzano joined them on Monday, when five regions 'Abruzzo, Umbria, Basilicata, Liguria and Tuscany, were bumped up from yellow to orange zones, joining Puglia and Sicily.
These areas have slightly less stringent restrictions as they have been classed as medium-high risk while the rest of the country is moderate risk - yellow.
Under the restrictions, which apply until, December 3, non-essential shops and markets are closed in red zones and travel outside one's home town is banned, except for work or health reasons.
On Sunday Filippo Anelli, the president of the Italian federation of medical guilds (FNOMCEO), called for Italy to be put into a "total lockdown throughout the country".
In a Facebook post, Anelli said the national health system cannot cope with the rising number of COVID-19 cases and warned Italy could suffer 10,000 more deaths in a month.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
