OrNever Italians travel on an average of over 2 million quick tampons purchased every week at the pharmacy. Indeed in the week from June 27 to July 3 they were exactly 2.1 million for over 14 million euros of expenditure, double the two weeks earlier when 1 million tests were purchased, while the previous week they increased to 1.5 million. . In practice, the tampons made every day in pharmacies or local health authorities and those made at home, if used all and not to “stock up”, are practically superimposable: 300 thousand “official” and 300 thousand “do-it-yourself”
the phenomenon of rapid tests at home has been growing exponentially for some months now, but in the last few weeks it has exploded with numbers that have never been seen so far, driven by the spread of Omicron 5 which has caused a fifth summer wave that travels at an average of 100 thousand infections a day. At least if we consider the “official” data reported every day in the Covid bulletin because in reality all observers speak of underestimation: real infections, they say, would be at least double if not triple.
Strong growth since mid-June
And a wake-up call in this sense comes from the purchase of rapid tampons at the pharmacy as monitored by Iqvia, a global health data provider, which has recorded this exponential growth starting from mid-June in correspondence with the growth of positives. The DIY test boom is partly explained by the need of Italians to test themselves because they came into contact with positives, but it is likely that an important slice of those who turn out to be positive will not then resort to the official tampon (in pharmacies or ASL) to certify his positivity and therefore find himself obliged to respect home isolation. In fact, for many a self-managed quarantine is being cleared which in some cases can be dangerous because it is not excluded that the positive, even if asymptomatic, is not also contagious.
How to get out? some countries – such as England and Spain – have abolished the quarantine for asymptomatic people while the US provides for a 5-day one without the obligation to take the test. In Italy, for now, the position of the Minister of Health Speranza is inspired by the utmost caution. But also within the Government there is no lack of different positions such as that of Undersecretary Andrea Costa who on Monday 11 reiterated his position: “I believe that what we need to pay attention to are symptomatic citizens and those who risk more, therefore elderly and fragile, after of which normality will be reached when a positive person without symptoms can continue to work wearing a mask, otherwise there is the risk of blocking the country with a lockdown “.
Regions: hypothesis of reduction of home isolation
On this front a reflection is also opening up among the Regions, for now still at the technical stage: in the next few days a document could arrive to the Health Commission which in fact asks to reduce home isolation for all to 5 days and without the obligation to test if you have been symptom-free for two days. The goal is to avoid sending the country into a tailspin if an even stronger wave starts again in the autumn.