For many older Italians, COVID-19 isolation continues, Catholic group says

ROME (CNS) -- As most of Italy eased COVID-19 restrictions in late April, most residents of Italy's assisted living and nursing homes were locked in "an eternal red zone" -- not leaving the facilities, not having any visitors and, in more than half the homes, not even having access to video calls with loved ones, according to the Community of Sant'Egidio. As of April 10, the Italian health ministry reported that 91% of residents in assisted living and nursing homes had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and that 75% of the residents had received both doses. Overall, by April 28, Italy had fully vaccinated just over 9% of its population. But the vaccinations and the lower infection rates -- by April 28 the infection rate was 37% of what it had been at the peak in November -- had not changed the strict lockdown that most residents of homes for the elderly had been experiencing since early March 2020. Presenting the results of a survey of 240 institutions for the elderly in 11 cities all over the country, Marco Impagliazzo, Sant'Egidio's president, said the situation should cause "moral indignation."