Covid Cases in Tuscany Increase, Distancing Extended on Public Transport

Tuscan trains use socially distancing aboard but this in not the case often in the station

Four “hotbed areas” (focolai) of Coronavirus infection have been identified in Tuscany, with the number of cases spiking upwards to 45 on August 8, the most in a single day since May 2020.

Nine are teenagers or in their early 20s are part of the group, all after trips outside Italy:  five in the Valdarno had just returned home from Greece, and the other four, all resident in the province of Siena, had come back from Croatia.

A group of 18 Nigerians have tested positive in Carrara, where they are in self-isolation, ditto for a Moroccan woman in Barga in addition to three others from her country in the same town.  Currently, there are a total of 457 COVID-19 cases in Tuscany, with 442 in self-quarantine.  Since the beginning of the pandemic, 10.601 people have contracted the virus in the region (out of a population of 2.7 million) and 1,137 have died.  Only one person is presently in the intensive care unit.  No deaths have been registered from the disease for the past several days.

To read more in Italian, visit Florence’s La Repubblica news site.

Tuscan governor Enrico Rossi signed an ordinance on August 6 extending social distancing through the beginning of September on regional buses and trains in line with the recent national decree issued by Health Minister Roberto Speranza on August 1 as a safety measure against COVID-19.  In July, several regions, including Liguria and Lombardy, had abolished such restrictions, allowing people to be seated next to each other before Speranza intervened.

A minimum of a one-meter distance (3.2 ft.) between continues to be obligatory between passengers who must wear masks when using public transport for the immediate future, along with the availability of hand sanitizer.  That means no sitting next to each other, a regulation in force since the March 8 lockdown.  Vehicles will be continue to be cleaned at the end of service for the next day.

To read more in Italian, visit Florence’s La Repubblica news site.