Federica Virga
Mandatory masks and tampons for patients, but the Region practically leaves the discretion to the health departments on the methods of entry for visits. These are the new rules for accessing hospitals in Palermo, established by an ordinance of the Ministry of Health (and valid until 31 December) and implemented by the Sicilian Region which, through a circular from Dasoe (department for health activities and observatory epidemiologist of the Department of Health), gives operational indications to the city’s health agencies to help them manage the risk of Covid infections.
In the document there are precise prescriptions related not only to the use of the mask, the obligation of which has fallen everywhere except in hospitals and nursing homes, but also to the use of tampons for access to emergency rooms, in hospital wards and also in public and private clinics.
Mandatory mask for doctors, patients and relatives
The use of the FFP2 mask remains mandatory for everyone, therefore for doctors, healthcare professionals, visitors, users and patients in all hospital wards, in all clinics or specialist centers with fragile or immunosuppressed patients and for those with respiratory symptoms at the interior of waiting rooms of health facilities, including first aid. The obligation also applies to social-health and social-welfare facilities, including hospitality and long-term care facilities, nursing homes, hospices, rehabilitation centers and residential facilities for the elderly.
Who shouldn’t wear a mask
The only ones exempt from the mandatory use of the mask are children under the age of six (and this was also the case during the pandemic) and for those with pathologies or disabilities that are incompatible with their use. The same applies to those who have to communicate with people with disabilities, for example the deaf, for whom the protective device would be an obstacle.
The mask is, however, recommended for operators, carers and users in all waiting rooms of departments or emergency rooms, even in the absence of respiratory symptoms. And, at the discretion of the doctor, also in all general medicine clinics, pediatricians of free choice and in those of health structures for which it is not already mandatory.
Swab for those who access the emergency room or need to be hospitalized
Tampons deserve a separate chapter. In fact, they remain mandatory only for patients who access the emergency room or who need to be hospitalized, even in day hospital or day surgery (in the event that they already have respiratory symptoms or develop them during their stay) or who need to access outpatient facilities. The health departments of individual hospitals can extend antigen tests at the entrance to asymptomatic patients as well. The same goes for patients who need to be transferred to other departments or facilities: in this case, the swab can be carried out even in the absence of symptoms.
Access rules in Palermo hospitals
Different, however, the treatment for visitors. The indications of the circular, based on the ordinance of the Ministry of Health of 28 April, do not give indications to the health directorates regarding visits to relatives. In fact, it is the hospitals themselves that can autonomously adopt their own rules, establishing from time to time whether they are more restrictive or not.
Al Polyclinic, for example, there is no obligation for visitors to swab, but only to wear a mask: short visits, however, with reduced hours and stays compared to before the pandemic. The swab is required only for those who have to stay longer (such as the husband accompanying a pregnant woman) or for the caregiver. Same story for theGet fat, Brain e Villa Sofia: slightly reduced visiting hours, FFP2 masks mandatory, but no swabs for visiting relatives or caregivers. To the Civicon the other hand, the swab is required only in intensive care and the antigenic is the responsibility of the visitor.
Al Buccheri La Ferla the visitor must wear a mask for the entire duration of his stay in the hospital. The obligation to present a negative antigenic swab report, on the other hand, is only for the caregivers of the Obstetrics and Rehabilitation departments. Entrance is allowed to only one visitor per patient per day and visitors with flu symptoms such as cold, cough or sore throat will not be able to enter. On the other hand, the hospital in via Messina Marine gives different provisions for entry to the Obstetrics, Neonatology and Utin departments. In fact, only one visitor, husband or mother of the woman in labor can enter there: the first antigenic swab required of the visitor, necessary to accompany the future mother during labor and delivery, will be offered free of charge by the hospital and will be valid for 48 hours. If the hospitalization of the parturient should extend beyond the validity of the first swab carried out, any subsequent swabs must be carried out at the visitor’s expense.