For cases that have always been asymptomatic or were initially symptomatic but have been asymptomatic for at least 2 days, the isolation may end after 5, instead of the current 7, provided that an antigenic or molecular test is carried out, which is negative, at end of the period of isolation. This was established by the circular of the Ministry of Health in relation to the method of handling cases and close contacts of Covid. In the event of persistent positivity, “the isolation can be interrupted at the end of the 14th day from the first positive swab (and no longer 21), regardless of whether the test is performed”.
The circular, signed by the director of prevention of the Ministry of Health Gianni Rezza, was issued “as a result of the cessation of the state of emergency – reads the circular – and of the opinion issued by the Superior Health Council on 24 August”. The ministry – again according to the circular – assessed the global spread of the new omicron variant B.1.1.529 and considering the current evolution of the clinical picture of Covid, has updated the indications on case management and on the methods of isolation. “For close contacts in cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection, the indications contained in the Circular of 30 March last are still in force”
THE NEW BOOSTERS ARE COMING
There will be no ‘free all’ for asymptomatic positives. The turning point, hoped for by various experts and political forces and already implemented in some countries, does not seem to be on the horizon for the moment in Italy. The Minister of Health Roberto Speranza clears the field of misunderstandings: on the subject “there is an opinion from the Higher Council of Health Css that is coming and as soon as it is formalized we will make the appropriate assessments. What is certain is that if a person is positive must stay at home “. Meanwhile, vaccines adapted against the variants are on the way: they should be available in Italy as early as mid-September. The point, explains the minister, is that according to the indications of the CSS “if a person is positive he is, symptoms or no symptoms, and must remain in isolation to avoid the spread of the infection”. Therefore, a prudent approach prevails, even if the orientation to reduce the quarantine period from 7 to 5 days for asymptomatic positive subjects, with a negative test on the fifth day, would be confirmed. And the maximum isolation period would also pass from 21 to 15 days in case the positivity to the virus persists, based on the lower infectivity after two weeks. A prospect, that of maintaining the isolation measure, however disputed by several parties in view of the elections of 25 September, when many could miss the polls precisely because of the positivity to the virus. But for Speranza this controversy does not exist: “As did in the last elections, there is the possibility of home voting, as well as for the infirm. Also for these elections the home vote is there and it can be used”, he affirms. Apart from the pre-election debate, the crux of the strategy to be adopted in the near future for the management of the pandemic remains. Because, if it is true that today we have many more weapons against the virus, it is also true that the pandemic is still underway. For this Speranza reiterates the invitation to all political forces to say “unambiguously” that the anti-Covid vaccination campaign will continue even after September 26, especially considering the upcoming arrival of updated vaccines against the Omicron variant of the virus. In fact, the times would be very tight: “Our expectation is that tomorrow the European Medicines Agency can give the green light to adapted vaccines and then the Italian Medicines Agency will follow. We count on having updated vaccines available by mid-September. “, said the minister, inviting” fragile individuals and those over 60 to have a second call “. Meanwhile, the FDA, the US drug control agency, granted emergency authorization today to the updated Pfizer and Moderna anti-Covid vaccine boosters.