Deaths among farmers, a homeless person and a cemetery visitor as the Uffizi suspends ticket sales. The Health Minister calls an emergency meeting for today (Thursday) as heatwave intensifies.
Four people died in Italy on Wednesday as a ferocious heatwave continued to grip the country and much of Western Europe.
The dead include two farmers in the Lodi and Piacenza areas of northern Italy, a homeless person in Naples, and a man who collapsed at a cemetery in Garlasco, near Pavia in Lombardy.
Red alert cities rise to 17
Wednesday saw 16 of Italy’s 27 largest cities placed on red alert — the highest level in the health ministry’s warning system — meaning temperatures pose a risk to the general population, not only to vulnerable groups. Bari will join the list on Thursday, bringing the total to 17.
Cities currently on maximum alert include Rome, Milan, Florence, Turin, Venice, Bologna, Verona, Brescia, Bolzano, Ancona, Perugia, Pescara, Frosinone, Rieti, Viterbo, Latina, and, from Thursday, Bari.
The ministry’s alert system runs from level zero (green, no alert) through yellow (pre-alert) and orange (risk to vulnerable groups including the elderly and the ill) to red, at which point health risks extend to the broader population.
Uffizi closes ticket sales
Florence’s Uffizi Gallery suspended ticket sales on Wednesday after the extreme heat began affecting its air conditioning systems. Long queues formed outside the gallery as visitors were turned away, with management citing the need to limit entry for the day while teams of technicians worked to restore cooling systems.
However, the air conditioning was not only ineffective this week. Sarah Cater, a licensed guide in Florence said last week the Uffizi was already hot inside. The guide platforms in Florence were swamped yesterday with comments saying they had to cut their tours short as clients felt ill due to the heat and lack of air-conditioning inside the gallery. “Customer service, from mismanagement of queues to lack of good air circulation has been getting progressively worse in the last weeks”, Miss Cater said.
Florence was among the 16 cities on red alert on Wednesday.
Minister calls emergency meeting
Health Minister Orazio Schillaci announced that a technical meeting would be held at his ministry on Thursday to assess the government’s response to the crisis.
“We began issuing heatwave bulletins on May 25, with three-day forecasts each time,” Schillaci said. “Great attention is being paid to this. We also have clear guidelines, which we’ll disseminate further. We must protect the most vulnerable, the elderly, and children, above all.”
