Yesterday, the “live TV” updates by Governor Luca Zaia ripped the veil on a disturbing scenario. Which, if it is such in a region like Veneto at the forefront of the fight against Covid, let alone in the rest of the country.
Zaia’s words highlight at least four serious criticalities: 1) the impossibility of carrying out the “suspensions” envisaged for healthcare personnel who refuse to get vaccinated, because this would risk sending hospital operations into crisis; 2) the lack of clear rules with respect to the profiles (legal and trade union) that regulate the employment relationship between the health company and no-vax doctors and nurses; 3) the almost total presence of patients admitted to therapy who are all unvaccinated. «Ten days ago – underlines Zaia – we had a day with 40 new cases, today 669, a + 150% of cases. They are almost all asymptomatic. What is the risk? The true one is that asymptomatic young people can infect unvaccinated parents. Of the ICU patients only one was vaccinated with a single dose, the others were not vaccinated. Out of 160 hospitalized patients we monitored, 144 were not vaccinated, 16 with one dose, with two doses there was none ». And then: «The Delta variant is predominant today. A fact: out of 280 sequenced samples, 226 are Delta and 22 Alpha (English). The RT is 1.6 in Veneto ». But, in some ways, the most paradoxical aspect is that of doctors who should treat Covid patients, but have the absurd claim of doing so without undergoing vaccination (“for a matter of free choice”). Sporadic cases? Far from it. Until last month, there were 45,000 “opposing” white coats. The health authorities should have started the “suspension procedures” against them. But depriving oneself of 45,000 professionals including doctors and nurses would mean – and Zaia’s words confirm this – jeopardizing the full functionality of hospitals precisely when they need maximum efficiency. And then it is no wonder that 45,753 health workers currently not vaccinated, the percentage of practices of “suspension procedure” is only 2.36% of the total. In short, yet another proof of how the “threats” do not want – or rather, cannot – be followed by concrete facts. The surrender of the governor Zaia is emblematic: “The suspensions of health workers who have not yet vaccinated have been frozen because there is no staff to replace them.”
But it is not only the healthcare sector that suffers. Yesterday the managers of the discos filed an appeal with the TAR against the decision of the Council of Ministers to keep the dance floors closed. In this sector there are 2,500 companies for a total of 50,000 employees and a total turnover of 5 billion euros (in 2019). From 2020, however, zero collections and all unemployed.