Italy Review Blog: Wednesday 14th April 2021

Good morning on Wednesday 14th April. The middle of the week arrives with more anti-lockdown protests in Rome and the country still very much in the grip of the pandemic. 

​Yesterday in Italy there were 13,447 new cases of Covid-19 reported. That represents a big increase from the previous Tuesday but as last week was the day after the Easter bank holiday, the lower than usual number then could have been a result of a reporting lag. There's really nothing else to suggest the virus is all of a sudden spiralling out of control but we'll keep a close eye on how things develop later. 

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson made some interesting comments yesterday that might give us pause for thought. He put the country's recovery down in large part to the lockdown rather than the vaccine rollout and also made it quite clear that he expects the numbers of new cases, hospitalisations and deaths to increase now that many of the restrictions have been eased. 

This line of thinking is of a similar vein to accepting that it will be impossible to completely eradicate Coronavirus and that we're going to have to live with it, in a similar way to how we live with the flu for example. I suppose we've all become accustomed to seeing the daily numbers presented to us and hoping for them to drop a bit, but have we reached the stage where that's no longer relevant? We certainly don't study statistics of other diseases with this level of attention so if Covid is going to be just another part of daily life, do we still need the same focus on the numbers?

The summer will be with us soon and if we follow a similar trajectory to last year, the case numbers should drop significantly. By the time the colder weather returns in the autumn, everyone who wants a vaccine will have had one and we should be in a much better place. 

That silver bullet of the warmer weather is yet to be fired with current temperatures remaining unseasonably low. Topping the charts today is the capital of Sardinia, Cagliari with 18° Celsius while Northern Italy is decidedly cold: Trento for example will reach a maximum of 4° C today. That said, there's plenty of sunshine everywhere 

Today's photos come from the sunny seaside town of Santa Flavia in Sicily. Situated a 20 minute journey along the coast from Palermo, the town is popular with locals but manages to escape the mass tourism of the island regions major resorts such as Cefalù or Taormina. Part of the reason for that is due to its size; there's one medium-sized beach and one little inlet with a tiny beach so space is at a premium. However, if you visit just a little but out of the main season in say June or September, and on a weekday, you're likely to find a parking spot, some space on the beach and some wonderful views. 

Buona giornata