As virus surges anew, Milan hospitals under pressure again

MILAN (AP) — Coronavirus infections are surging anew in the northern Italian region where the pandemic first took hold in Europe, putting pressure again on hospitals and health care workers.

At Milan’s San Paolo hospital, a ward dedicated to coronavirus patients and outfitted with breathing machines reopened this weekend, a sign that the city and the surrounding area is entering a new emergency phase of the pandemic.

For the medical personnel who fought the virus in Italy's hardest-hit region of Lombardy in the spring, the long-predicted resurgence came too soon.

“On a psychological level, I have to say I still have not recovered,’’ said nurse Cristina Settembrese, referring to last March and April when Lombardy accounted for nearly half of the dead and one-third of the nation’s coronavirus cases.

“In the last five days, I am seeing many people who are hospitalized who need breathing support," Settembrese said. “I am reliving the nightmare, with the difference that the virus is less lethal.”

Months after Italy eased one of the globe’s toughest lockdowns, the country on Wednesday posted its highest ever daily total of new infections at 7,332 — surpassing the previous high of 6,557, recorded during the virus's most deadly phase in March. Lombardy is again leading the nation in case numbers, an echo of the trauma of March and April when ambulance sirens pierced the silence of stilled cities.

Increased testing is partially responsible for the high numbers, and many of the new cases are asymptomatic. So far, Italy’s death toll remains significantly below the spring heights, hovering around 40 in recent days. That compares with the high of 969 dead nationwide one day in late March.

In response to the new surge, Premier Giuseppe Conte’s government...