Omicron and its sub-variants fill the hospitals: in the last twenty-four hours there are another 27 hospitalizations in the ordinary hospital wards in Campania. The total rises to 540 units. The situation in intensive care remains stable, 33, but the increase in cases, which yesterday exceeded 37 percent of the incidence, pushes the Region to launch a plan to tackle the summer wave of the Covid 19 pandemic. “There is it was a trivialization of the problem, compared to last year the numbers have multiplied by ten and we already have the beds occupied “, accuses the governor Vincenzo De Luca who raises the alarm on the contagion of health personnel:” The presence of doctors is missing in hospitals already today. We have hundreds of positives. “
Covid, 4 thousand and 837 new positives
The regional plan restarts from the vaccination campaign. The goal is to increase the administration of the third and fourth dose for the most exposed categories, over 80, guests of RSA, frail subjects, and groped to convince those who have not completed the cycle to undergo the injection. In this perspective, ASL Napoli 1 directed by Ciro Verdoliva has already ordered the reopening of vaccination centers in the individual basic health districts from Monday to Friday from 9 to 14. “The number of cases confirms an important resurgence of the virus and a possible peak by the end of July – underlines Verdoliva – today we are able to respond with antivirals, monoclonal antibodies and protocols that allow us to greatly reduce the number of hospitalizations, but we cannot lag behind the vaccine which was one of the most important actions of the struggle “.
Territorial activity will also be intensified. The Region has extended until September 30 the contracts with the employees of the Usca expired on June 30, a circumstance that opens another front of controversy between De Luca and the Minister of Health Roberto Speranza. The plan also provides for intensifying the home treatment of patients with antivirals, drugs that can be used within five days of infection, even by purchasing them at the pharmacy with the prescription of the general practitioner, from frail subjects or those in possession of certain requirements. Campania is only tenth among the Italian regions in the use of specific medicines against Covid 19 in the treatment of patients not forced into hospitalization and is the fifth in the number of infections in the last week. The prevalence of antiviral treatments is below the national average: 0.27 percent compared to 0.41.
With regard to hospitals, each unit will have to equip itself with a share of beds dedicated to Covid between 5 and 10 percent of the total, even in special pavilions in larger structures, where positive but asymptomatic patients who must be hospitalized will be hospitalized. undergoing specialist care not directly related to the virus. At the Cotugno hospital, which specializes in the treatment of infectious diseases, 10-15 percent of the beds will be reserved for Covid patients. Even residential structures, both public and private ones, will have to provide beds for asymptomatic Covid positives.
Within a couple of days, ASL Napoli 1 will allocate 40 beds to Covid patients in the premises of the Ospedale del Mare currently used for “day surgery” activities. Another 180 seats will be reserved for paucisymptomatic patients in the Covid residence adjacent to the Ponticelli hospital. In a (currently only hypothetical) “phase 2” of this summer wave, another 20 ordinary hospitalization places will be reserved at the Loreto Mare hospital which will not be transformed into a Covid hospital as happened in 2020, during the most acute phase of the pandemic . If necessary, intensive care beds will be activated in the modular structures of Ponticelli. Separate discussion for pediatric patients. At the Santobono 20 beds are currently available, 8 at the Policlinico Federiciano and 7 at Moscati di Avellino. Now the Region is asking to immediately activate other pediatric beds for patients with Covid: 5 each at the Ruggi of Salerno and at the Sant’Anna and San Sebastiano of Caserta.