Leap of the dead with Covid in the last 24 hours: they are 502. To find a higher number we need to go back to last January 26, when the victims were 541. In the meantime, from the Viminale today the indication to the prefects to tighten on risk controls gatherings;
in view of the Easter holidays, then, targeted attention on the extra-urban roads to intercept the illegal movements of those who do not want to give up on parties outside.
The death curve has been rising almost continuously since last March 1, when it reached the lowest point of the year, 191. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the deaths have thus become 103,001.
The infected of the day are back above 20 thousand (20,396), but the positivity rate has dropped to 5.5%, a drop of 3 points compared to yesterday.
On the other hand, intensive care employment continues to increase: 3,256 patients are hospitalized, 99 more than yesterday in the balance between entries and exits.
In the ordinary wards there are instead 26,098 people, with an increase of 760 in the last 24 hours.
Precisely to curb the third wave in progress, the Government, with the decree-law of 13 March signed by Mario Draghi, has introduced more restrictive measures that have redesigned Italy in red-orange, Sardinia white aside.
The circular sent today by the head of cabinet to all the prefects offers indications to those who have the task of applying those measures, the police.
The latter, the document points out, is required "a particular operational effort that significantly affects the control system", which must be carried out "with accuracy" and concentrated "specifically in the most sensitive urban areas, potentially affected by crowding phenomena, especially in correspondence on holidays and days before holidays ".
During the Easter period, "targeted checks are needed along the extra-urban roads, potentially affected by more intense traffic flows".
Equal attention will be paid to "airport and railway stations, as well as to other hubs of urban mobility".
Last weekend, meanwhile, the data show an increase in infringements registered by the police: almost 5 thousand were sanctioned and 90 commercial establishments closed due to irregularities, numbers in marked increase compared to those of the previous weekend.
The commander general of the Arma, Teo Luzi, however, stressed that the checks are carried out "with balance and sensitivity": there is "a work of persuasion towards the citizen, then there is also the repressive moment" .
The Draghi decree allows the Regions to adopt more stringent regulations than the national ones and today the Aosta Valley has prohibited travel to second homes for non-residents with an ordinance.
Similar decision by the Province of Bolzano.
Basilicata, which today has gone from red to orange, has maintained the closure for all schools until 26 March.
In Tuscany, 16 mayors of the Etruscan Valleys, between Pisa and Livorno, appeal to the owners of holiday homes in their territories: "do not come to second homes, help us to control the pandemic, in the interest of all", reads in the letter.
As for Sardinia, M5s regional councilors denounced the disembarkation yesterday in Olbia of "997 passengers, the vast majority of whom, after refusing to undergo the test, left the quay without having to communicate their personal details and their telephone number. to the control staff ".
Still on the 'white' island, the municipality of Sindia (Nuoro) entered lockdown after an outbreak of 23 people infected in a few days.
It is the second Sardinian municipality, after La Maddalena, to be dyed red.