Countdown to anti-Covid masks: starting from 30 September the almost last restrictions that had been introduced for the pandemic will expire. For example, it will no longer be necessary to wear the Ffp2 on buses, subways and trains, but also in hospitals, medical clinics and RSA. The second deadline will arrive on October 31st when the safety protocols in the workplace will cease, which among other things provide in some cases the measurement of the temperature at the entrance and the use of masks indoors when the distance cannot be maintained. .
No more obligations, we go towards recommendation
It has been the symbol, almost the fetish of the fight against Covid, and has accompanied the Italians for over two years. Now the mask has its days numbered: the outgoing government and in particular the Ministry of Health does not seem willing to extend the obligation. In these days the last arguments are being made that could lead to the decision not to extend the mandatory nature of the mask but could still materialize in a recommendation to wear it where there are gatherings, starting from public transport and especially in health facilities. The farewell to the mask is now a fact in the vast majority of countries, but with some important exceptions: at the beginning of September, for example, Germany approved a new law for the protection from infections which provides that it will no longer be mandatory to wear masks by plane, while their use will remain mandatory on board long-distance trains, as well as in doctors’ offices, nursing homes, clinics and all other health facilities.
Goodbye to masks, but stay green pass in the hospital
As mentioned, in a few days it will no longer be necessary to wear the Ffp2 on buses, subways and trains, but also in hospitals, medical clinics and RSA. With regard to the other restrictions still in force, the next deadline concerns the stop of safety protocols in the workplace, whose deadline is set for 31 October. Protocols which, among other things, provide in some cases the measurement of the temperature at the entrance and the use of masks indoors in the absence of the spacing. On the other hand, there is another restriction that remains in force until the end of the year and that is the one that provides that until December 31st the Green pass is still mandatory for health workers, patients and visitors to hospitals and RSAs (residences for the elderly). : in fact, this measure involves the need to swab before entering a health facility.
Contagions are rising, eyes on autumn
But as September 30 approaches – the date of expiry of the obligation to wear a mask to get on means of transport -, the data on the trend of infections show a first turnaround that has not been seen for weeks, with an increase incidence, a key parameter for the analysis of the pandemic. The latest weekly monitoring by the Higher Institute of Health indicates that the incidence of Covid-19 cases in Italy has gone to 215 per 100 thousand inhabitants compared to 186 the previous week, while the RT is equal to 0.91, stable compared to seven days earlier.
In particular, in the last week the growth of new positives has been about 10 per cent, even if no effects are seen on hospitals, where admissions both in intensive care and in other wards remain under control. The eyes, however, are focused on autumn, when presumably the spread of Covid will be more intense. At that point the new government will have to decide whether to take measures; and so far in two years of the pandemic, the first to be adopted to stem the virus has always been to reintroduce the obligation to wear a mask.