No slippage, Italian students will return to school on January 10, as planned. The fourth wave of the pandemic shows no signs of abating, but the government keeps the line and confirms the school calendar. The Regions, who will talk about this this morning during the Conference, however, are pushing to increase the positive threshold, after which the classes end up in Dad.
Infections and hospitalizations on the rise among the under 19s
At the moment, what is worrying is the data concerning the cases of positivity among children. In fact, about one out of four contagion, the Italian Society of Pediatrics reveals, concerns the under 20s in the last week. In one month, the number of under-19 patients has increased by almost 800 (791 to be precise), going from 8,632 to 9,423.
The trend of vaccinations among children
Data that are coupled with the progress of the vaccination campaign, which is struggling in particular in the 5-11 age group (last started on December 16), where just 10% of immunized with the first dose are reached, against 74% of vaccinated with a full cycle between 12 and 19 years old.
On the basis of Lab24 data updated to 4 January, the first dose vaccinated in the 5-11 age group are still 10% of the audience. Ahead Puglia (16.7%), Lombardy (14.1%) e Veneto (13.3%). In conclusion Marche (4.8%) autonomous province of Bolzano (5.5%) e Sicily (5.6%). On the other hand, 73.8% of vaccinated people with a complete cycle in the 12-19 years range (7.1% are waiting for the second dose). On top of the adhesions Sardinia (80.1%), Molise (79.4%), Puglia (79%) and Lombardy (78.5%). Latest autonomous province of Bolzano (62.5%) and Sicily (66.3%)
The concerns of the Regions
Worried above all by the low vaccination rate among the youngest, regional presidents and mayors have expressed concern in view of the reopening of schools. The governor of Campania, Vincenzo De Luca, even proposed to postpone the resumption of face-to-face lessons for 20-30 days to “cool the infection”. An idea that the president of Tuscany, Eugenio Giani, also agreed, albeit with some reservations. To definitively close the doors to the proposal, however, is Palazzo Chigi, whose line – reaffirmed several times in recent days by the Minister of Education, Patrizio Bianchi – is to keep schools open and relegate distance learning only to strict needs.