COVID-19 trend declining but herd immunity distant-ISS

(ANSA) - Rome, April 17 - The Civil Protection Department said Thursday that 106,607 people are currently infected with the coronavirus in Italy and 40,164 people have recovered, 2,072 more than Wednesday.
    The declining trend for the number of patients in intensive care continued, with a fall of 143 taking the number down to 2,936, below the 3,000 threshold for the first time since March 20.
    The figures presented on Thursday show that the COVID-19 trend is declining, with the curves for contagion, people in hospital and deaths coming down.
    Herd immunity is still far away though. "At the moment, a serum study is being conducted to find out how many people have come into contact with the virus and see what the circulation is," said Silvio Brusaferro, the president of the Higher Health Institute. "Estimates vary from region to region, but, in general, 90% of people in Italy have not come into contact with the virus.
    "This means that the majority of the population is still susceptible". Health Minister Roberto Speranza, meanwhile, told the Health G7 that took place on Thursday that "it is important that our countries work together to find a vaccine to overcome the COVID-19 emergency as soon as possible.
    "Once a vaccine is found, it will be fundamentally important to take charge of distributing it to everyone - including those countries that don't have the means to guarantee it to their citizens," he added.