C.he what does plateau phase mean Covid? It’s a good or bad news? It is talked about in all the news these days, in particular referring to a few regions. “In Lombardy, the plateau has been exceeded: the descent of infections has begun. But hospitals still under pressure “(Corriere.it). “Covid Lombardia, the contagion curve drops:” plateau “closer” (Sky TG24).
Contagions and plateaus, we are not out of danger yet
Yesterday in Lombardy the cases of Covid recorded were 25% less than on January 6, but the pressure on hospitals remains very heavy: the data confirm that more than one in three beds is occupied by Covid patients (mostly unvaccinated). AND in Milan the hospital in the Fiera was reopened, as well as various covid departments that had been closed in the past few months.
As he writes Corriere.it, “Not only the peak of January 4, for now, holds. But the contagions in Lombardia, which will remain in the yellow zone also next week, are decreasing from week to week: we are, technically, below “zero” in terms of weekly increase of new positives. This is shown in a graph in the hands of the Welfare Directorate General and viewed by the Courier, which indicates the increase in new positives in the last 7 days over the previous 7 “.
January 14, 2022 (change January 14, 2022 | 08:04) © REPRODUCTION RESERVED
What does it mean
Although the cases of Covid positivity increase from week to week, with the passage of time the increase in infections is decreasing and slowing down. When this approaches “zero” Lombardy will find itself on a “plateau”, that is, in a period in which infections are almost stable, with small variations.
In summary, having reached the plateau means have no difference between the sum of the cases of one week and the previous one. It means being in a period of stability of infections. Instead, when this difference goes below “zero” it means that the infections decrease from one week to the next.
Getty Images
The Plateau explained by the virologist
“As we have seen from a survey here in Lombardy, we are probably in a plateau phase (the constant trend that the contagion curve assumes, ed). There is still an increase in daily infections but if we go to compare the number of positives of this week with those of last, let’s see a negative balance», Explains the Professor Fabrizio Pregliasco, Scientific Director of the Influenza Observatory, Associate Professor of general and applied hygiene at the Virology section of the Department of Biomedical Sciences for Health of the University of Milan and Health Director of IRCCS Galeazzi Orthopedic Institute.
High attention on the coming weeks
The data of the infections therefore indicate a trend that we could define as “good” and give us some hope of getting out of the emergency, but still once it is necessary to adopt all the precautions we know by now not to get sick. Above all, avoid infecting the frail people, the elderly and those with previous diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular, oncological or respiratory diseases that could seriously put them at risk in case of Covid infection.
“We still have to wait for the later effects, and unfortunately sadder, complicated cases because who gets infected today has the chance, luckily less and less thanks to the Omicron variant, to have problems in the following days or weeks “, explained Pregliasco at 24 Mattino su Radio 24.
iO Donna © REPRODUCTION RESERVED