The Ministry of Health invites Italy to be ready in case the COVID-19 infection gets out of control
The increase in infections from Covid-19 also in Italy, and the new measures introduced by the Italian government and many European governments to limit the spread of the infection arriving from China, prompted the Ministry of Health led by Orazio Schillaci to publish a circular inviting the country to be ready in case the situation gets out of control as happened at the beginning of the pandemic.
The document “Interventions in place for the management of the circulation of SARS-CoV-2 in the 2022-2023 winter season“, published by the Ministry of Health, was drawn up with the support of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità after having also consulted the Regions and Public Administrations. What does the document say? Nothing new compared to the past, but 11 pages are put in black and white how Italy will have to be ready for a worsening of the pandemic situation, dusting off measures that had not been introduced without controversy: masks indoorssmart working, enhanced virus transmission surveillance, fourth doses of vaccine and limits on gatherings.
The circular does not say what must necessarily be done, but invites the institutions to be ready: “Although the evolution of the pandemic is currently unpredictable, our country must prepare to face a winter in which an increased welfare impact could be observed attributable to various acute respiratory diseases, first of all influenza, and to the possible circulation of new variants of Sars-CoV-2, also determined by individual behaviors and the immune status of the population“.
Surveillance and monitoring
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One of the first points concerns surveillance and monitoring activities, somewhat neglected in the last period. The call is to strengthen surveillance systems and increase genomic sequencing to detect new variants of the Sars-CoV-2 virus. This means that hospitals and emergency rooms will have to go back to collecting the samples to be subjected to molecular tests, so that in every region of Italy there is a precise overview of the spread of the virus and any variants.
Masks indoors and smart working
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The circular puts pen to paper a possible return to the tools already known over the past three years, those that have proved to be most effective in the fight against the pandemic: use of masks indoorshome work e reduction of mass aggregationsbut also adequate ventilation of closed environments and intensification of the fourth doses of the anti-COVID vaccine, with an additional dose for some categories at risk.
Check the beds and intensive care units
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We don’t know how the fourth pandemic will evolve in the coming weeks, but given what happened at the beginning of the pandemic, the circular invites the Regions to be ready in the event that hospitalizations also increase with the increase in infections. The text I recommend checking the “provision of beds in ordinary hospitalization (COVID medical area) and in intensive/sub-intensive care regimen dedicated to and dedicated to COVID-19 patients, to be identified and activated in a flexible manner based on demand” and compliance with formalized hospital protocols for the safe management of patients.
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