Maurizio Fugatti is one of the governors who yesterday confronted Matteo Salvini on the vaccination plan and on the Green Pass. President of the Autonomous Province of Trento and of the Autonomous Region of Trentino-Alto Adige, Fugatti experienced Covid firsthand. “I was forced home for 21 days, but luckily I had it in mild form.”
President Fugatti, how is the Covid situation in Trentino today?
“The numbers are good, we don’t have anyone in intensive care and today there were three new hospitalizations and two discharges. But you have to be careful. Unfortunately, the pandemic has taught us that successes cannot be proclaimed because the situation can change even quickly. Certainly the choice of giving absolute priority to vaccinations for over-50s has given us peace of mind and has brought results ».
How deep is the distance between the positions of the League at the parliamentary level and those of the governors?
«The League today is a governing party and feels the responsibility of its role. Today’s meeting was not aimed at putting pressure on the government, they are moments of confrontation that help us to broaden the overall vision and to understand the problems that are also experienced in other territories, in order to treasure them. It is a channel of definition between different realities ».
Would you be in favor of the vaccination obligation?
“It is a solution that frankly arouses many perplexities in me. Coercion does not respect the freedom of citizens. I believe that the best solution is to continue to dialogue with the citizen and convince him to get vaccinated. Among the older categories we had very high percentages of membership, above the national average, probably favored by the fact that we are a small company, but we have worked a lot on communication. With young people we struggle more, we need a greater effort ».
Today you discussed the use of the Green Pass.
“I think it needs to be understood when it is needed and when it is not needed. For example, in the restaurant business, it has been well received and has brought tranquility. Keep in mind that in terms of tourism we have had numbers higher than those of 2019, with the presence of many Italians. Do we want to impose it on other categories? Let’s evaluate it ».
Based on what criteria?
“The epidemiological situation must be evaluated, it would not make much sense for us at this time”.
So different rules from region to region?
«I am president of an autonomous province so I can only give a positive answer. A greater space of autonomy is the spirit adopted also in the definition of the new criteria for travel ».
You have proposed free tampons for those who play sports. Because?
“It would be useful above all for minors, a common sense solution because parents can be perplexed in having a 13-year-old daughter vaccinated. This solution would allow you to continue playing sports safely. Enlarging the buffers to everyone would be complicated also because the territories do not have the resources, unless the government wants to intervene. The invitation to experiment with salivary molecular swabs is also important. Trentino was the area that made the least use of distance learning. This solution would help us to keep the epidemiological risk linked to travel through public transport under control and to secure teaching ».