Sicily turns yellow again. The news, which has already been in the air for two weeks due to the high number of infections on the island, will be confirmed this afternoon, Friday 27 August, by the Control Room which will be held after the traditional monitoring by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità .
Sicily will therefore be the first Italian region to return to the yellow zone, after two months in the white zone. Next week could be followed by Sardinia, which remains under observation given the increasing infections.
While waiting for the weekly data that will be announced by the ISS in the afternoon, the daily numbers are examples: Sicily has been the region with the most cases in Italy for days. On August 26, there were 1.097 new daily cases, 15 victims. The Trinacria has aincidence of 186,27 cases per 100 inhabitants, well beyond the limit of 150 established for the passage in the yellow zone. The parameters relating to patients in ordinary wards and intensive care units have also been exceeded: in the first case i occupied beds reach 20% against a ceiling of 15%, the second reached 11%, one percentage point above the limit. The percentages, it should be stressed, were achieved despite the fact that last week the Region activated new beds in all departments and imposed restrictive measures in 55 Municipalities of the island where from 24 August it is mandatory to wear a mask even outdoors in crowded places, gatherings are prohibited and a swab is required for those attending banquets or private parties. In two Municipalities, Barrafranca and Niscemi, the orange zone has also been established.
In this context it should be emphasized that Sicily has the lowest percentage in Italy of vaccinated citizens. It is difficult not to identify a correlation between the high number of infections and the poor adherence to the vaccination campaign. Not surprisingly, as the councilor for health, Ruggero Razza underlines in an interview with TG5: "In Sicily 80 percent of hospitalized people are not vaccinated, these people are repentant today, but they didn't get vaccinated when they could and should have. Sicily, thank God, has literally been invaded by a tourist flow from all over Italy and the world and therefore we are paying for the effect of a large circulation of the virus. We have a duty to ask that percentage of Sicilian citizens who have not undergone the vaccine to do like the majority, who did: this minority cannot allow itself to decide the fate of all the others ".
Finally, let us remember the rules: in the yellow zone it is mandatory to wear a mask even outdoors. In restaurants there is a limit of diners at a table of four people, both outdoors and indoors, with an exception valid only for cohabitants. In theatres, cinemas, concerts, museums and spas the capacity limit is set at 50%. In any case, the number of spectators cannot exceed 2.500 for outdoor shows and 1.000 for indoor ones. For sporting events, on the other hand, the maximum capacity is 25%, with the same numerical limits set for shows.
