A surge in cases – with almost 60% more infections in seven days – and hospital wards that are starting to fill up again: due to the more contagious sub-variant Omicron BA.5, the Covid-19 epidemic in Italy regains speed in all Regions. The table for updating the anti-Covid Protocol will have to take into account this situation, which will meet again on Monday at the Ministry of Labor and Social Policies: on 30 June the obligation to wear a mask in the workplace expires. A decision has not yet been taken but the orientation is to go towards an extension of his obligation, with the use of the Ffp2 mask in spaces where distance cannot be guaranteed or when the employee works in contact with the public.
Hope: positive in isolation
Health Minister Roberto Speranza, in an interview with Repubblica, stresses that most of the restrictions have gradually been overcome and revisions are not on the agenda, while the challenge is to focus on the responsibility of individuals. As for the hypothesis of abolishing the isolation of the positives, it is clear: «Today there are 650 thousand people in isolation. It is not imaginable that they go around ».
Experts: mask in crowded places
Faced with the epidemic situation that records a new worsening due to the high speed of circulation of the virus, experts warn that, despite the fall of the obligation, it is still good to use the mask in the presence of aggregations and crowds. “Given the high speed of viral circulation – warned the Director of Prevention of the Ministry of Health, Gianni Rezza – it is good to remember that the risk of transmission of the infection can be reduced by using masks, especially in the presence of large groups of people, and at the same time protect the most fragile and elderly people with the additional booster dose ».
Workplace mask: towards confirmation
A meeting on the new Covid-19 protocol for workplaces between the ministries of Labor, Health, Economic Development, Inail, Cgil, Cisl, Uil, Ugl and employers’ associations will be held next week (perhaps as early as Monday 27 June) : a text must be reached by 30 June, when the obligation to wear a mask in the workplace will expire. The orientation is to extend the obligation but the surgical mask will no longer be enough, the Ffp2 will be needed, in situations where distance cannot be guaranteed or for staff in contact with the public.