COVID 'red zones' down to 74 in 7 regions - ISS's Brusaferro (2)

(ANSA) - Rome, April 30 - Silvio Brusaferro, the president of Italy's Higher Health Institute, said Thursday that the number of 'red zone' COVID-19 hotbeds is falling and the spread curve is continuing to drop, both in terms of the number of coronavirus cases and of the number of people with symptoms.
    Herd Immunity Distant.
    But during the regular press conference on the SarCov2 epidemic, Brusaferro also stressed that "herd immunity is still far away".
    Contagion Rate Below Zero.
    He said that R0 contagion rate of the novel coronavirus was "below zero in all of the regions.
    "The curve of the COVID-19 epidemic continues substantially to decline with the number of people with symptoms and the number of cases in all of the regions," he added.
    Fewer Red Zones.
    He said the number of red zones of virus hotbeds was down to 74 municipalities in seven regions.
    "This is a sign of the capacity to quickly identify hotbeds and limit them," Brusaferro said.
    Same Situation for Italians and Migrants.
    The number of cases attributable to foreign nationals in Italy amounts to 6,395, 5.1% of the total.
    "The epidemic curve is similar in Italians and in foreigners," explained Brusaferro.
    "Further analysis will be presented on this next week".
    Pre-existing Conditions.
    Of the over 25,000 people to have died, 84% had two or three existing conditions. Regional Assessments.
    Brusaferro said that the epidemiological situation varies from region to region.
    "The monitoring measures, which are currently being finalized, will reflect the need to have specific means to dialogue with the regions to understand what the situation is," he said.
    "We will assess regional variations, because the decisions made must take account of the real situation". Kessler Institute Comes Out Against Reopening Schools.
    Stefano Merler, an expert with the Bruno Kessler Institute, said that children are four times less susceptible to getting the virus than the elderly.
    "We have conducted a study, which was published by 'Science', that highlights how children are 66% less susceptible than adults aged between 15 and 65," he said.
    Nevertheless, he dismissed the idea of returning to normal schooling.
    "Reopening all the levels of school would lift the R0 contagion rate up to 1.3," he said. "(It would be) an absolutely alarming situation that would lead to very serious problems in a very short period of time".