ROME – One of this weekend's main events commemorating the anniversary of the start of Italy’s COVID-19 outbreak was canceled Thursday after a cluster of new infections traced to the British variant forced localized lockdowns in hardest-hit Lombardy and around the country.
Italy’s Superior Institute of Health reported last week that the British variant represented some 18% of all new infections, but predicted that the number would rise quickly as the variant spread.
The institute has warned that new restrictions could become necessary to keep the health care system from once again buckling under.
Brescia’s public hospital, which was overwhelmed during the initial outbreak last year, had planned a daylong conference Saturday on lessons