COVID virus expert Massimo Galli said
on Italian TV Tuesday his ward had been "invaded" by new
variants of the coronavirus.
Galli, a Milan university infectious disease professor and a
doctor at Milan's Sacco Hospital, said "everyone" wanted to
reopen Italy but the spread of new variants including the
British one made a new full lockdown a more likely scenario.
"We all agree that we'd like to all reopen but I find a ward
invaded by new variants and that is the case all over Italy,
which makes it easy to predict that we will soon have more
serious problems," Galli told Mattino 5 on the flagship
Berlusconi channel.
"Warnings are coming from what is happening in other European
countries.
"We are faced with the variants, and the variants are more
contagious and therefore have more capacity to spread in
situations that are not completely safe.
"It's unpleasant but it's a fact.
"That's the reality, and it's no use chattering about it".
The new government, led by former European central banker Mario
Draghi, is facing calls to ease restrictions from some political
parties amid experts' recommendations that another full lockdown
of at least two weeks will be needed to combat the variants.
The British variant is destined to become the dominant one,
experts say.
It has already been detected in several places across Italy.
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