Charon alarm. The new African heat wave has reached Italy in these hours, bringing temperatures, especially in the central-south and in the big cities, very close to 40 degrees. The Ministry of Health immediately proceeded to indicate with the red dot, for Sunday, ten cities, including Rome and Bologna, where a heat wave is expected “able to have negative effects on the health of healthy and active people, and not only on subgroups at risk such as the elderly, children and the sick”.
Level 3 (the maximum of the scale) was attributed to Bologna, Bolzano, Brescia, Frosinone, Latina, Perugia, Reggio Calabria, Rieti, Rome and Viterbo. On Saturday, however, the red dot is only available in Perugia, Reggio Calabria, Rieti and Rome.
Orange dot, for Sunday, in 9 other cities (Ancona, Bari, Genoa, Messina, Naples, Palermo, Pescara, Trieste and Venice), where "The heat can represent a health risk in the most susceptible population subgroups": the elderly, children and the sick. The ministry, for the cities where the red dot is expected, gives a series of tips to defend yourself from the heat: avoid direct exposure to the sun from 11 to 18, avoid particularly busy areas and intense physical activity in the open air open during the hottest hours of the day.
It is then good, notes the ministry, spend the hottest hours of the day in the coolest room in the house, wear light-colored, light and natural fiber clothing, drink liquids by moderating the intake of carbonated or sugary drinks, tea and coffee. The car should then be taken in during the hottest hours only if it is air conditioned, and it is a good idea to carry adequate supplies of water when traveling. Particular attention to the elderly and children: they should never be left, even if for a short time, in the car parked in the sun.
Meanwhile Charon has already made the first victims: in Tuscany, on the Pisan coast, a 71-year-old from Livorno and a 70-year-old from Perugia died. In both cases the cause of death would have been heatstroke.
