Covid, what the new circular from the Ministry of Health provides
The Palazzo Chigi line on Covid: there will be no more green passes and lockdowns. But the Ministry of Health has issued a circular on "Interventions in place for the management of the circulation of SarsCoV2 in the 2022-23 winter season". Here are all the details
Government grappling with the Covid dossier. Here are all the details.
The Palazzo Chigi line on Covid: there will be no more green passes and lockdowns. But the Ministry of Health has issued a circular on "Interventions in place for the management of the circulation of SarsCoV2 in the 2022-23 winter season".
In fact, the Minister of Health Orazio Schillaci sent a circular to the Regions with some objectives: "Intensify sequencing" to quickly identify the circulation of new variants, work to "avoid the congestion of health facilities" and "fill the gaps in the vaccination campaign" .
THE CIRCULAR OF THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH
The minister's circular also fixes some pieces of the plan that will be triggered in the event of a worsening of the epidemiological situation: a strong recommendation for the use of the mask indoors, home work and reduction of mass aggregations, room ventilation, fifth doses of vaccine for some categories at risk (over eighty, guests of the RSA, over sixty in a condition of fragility). And in the meantime, the obligation to wear a mask is extended, until April 30, in hospitals as in all health care facilities and in the RSA.
THE WORDS OF THE PREMIER MELONI
Yet there is no going back to the restrictions of the past, according to the government. The Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, also yesterday reiterated a concept expressed during the year-end appointment with the press, two days ago: «On Covid, the restrictive model adopted in the past has not worked, as we are also seeing in China . My idea is that we should work on empowering citizens and on prevention, rather than on the deprivation of freedoms. I intend to continue like this in the future as well". And albeit with this intention of taking a different path, the government is working on a strategy to combat the virus.
WHAT DO YOU READ IN THE DOCUMENT SIGNED BY THE MINISTER OF HEALTH?
"The evolution of the pandemic – writes Minister Schillaci in the document – is currently unpredictable, but our country must prepare itself to face a winter in which an increased welfare impact attributable to various acute respiratory diseases could be observed". Hence the hope: "Italians can look at the holidays in progress with serenity, implementing, as always, responsible behavior".
STRENGTHEN SURVEILLANCE AND SEQUENCING
Strengthen surveillance systems and increase genomic sequencing to detect new variants of the SarsCoV2 virus. This is also specified in the circular. It will be “essential to ensure a sufficient sequencing volume to monitor the viruses in circulation and the emergence of new variants and an adequate diagnostic capacity of the laboratories. Therefore, it is strongly recommended, at least in hospitals and emergency rooms, to collect samples to be subjected to molecular testing, to guarantee a minimum number of samples to be genotyped in each Region"
MASKS INDOOR
Use of masks indoors, home work and reduction of mass aggregations, ventilation of closed environments and intensification of the fourth doses of the anti-Covid vaccine and a further dose for some categories at risk. The level of attention also rises on this, according to the ministry's circular.
OTHER ASPECTS OF THE CIRCULAR
"It is essential that the regional health services verify and, if necessary, strengthen the state of preparation in order to deal with a possible increase in the demand for assistance for SarsCoV2 cases". In particular, the circular recommends the verification of hospitalization and intensive care beds; the procurement of devices, drugs, vaccines; the availability of trained healthcare personnel who "can support local departments and services in the event of an increase in cases such as to exceed the current capacity of the healthcare systems"
THE SITUATION OF CONTACTS
“Between early June and mid-July 2022, COVID-19 cases tripled in the EU/EEA, after which the number of cases decreased again. At the end of week 48 of 2022 (week ending 4 December), in the EU/EEA, the number of cases of COVID-19 disease increased by 4% compared to the previous week, while the COVID-19 mortality rate has continued to decline, and both the medical and ICU occupancy indicators currently remain stable. Furthermore, the frequency of detection of the BQ.1 viral variant, characterized by a greater capacity for immune evasion, continues to increase. It therefore remains of fundamental importance to monitor the epidemiological situation, also considering that the picture is complicated by the co-circulation of other respiratory viruses, first of all those of the flu".
THE WEEKLY BULLETIN
Ascertained cases of Covid19 and deaths in Italy are decreasing. With regard to the trend of the epidemiological situation from covid-19, the Ministry of Health announces that in the week of 23-29 December 2022 there were: 122,110 new positive cases with a variation of -11.3% compared to the previous week (137,599). 706 people died with a variation of -11.5% compared to the previous week (798); 807,118 swabs carried out with a variation of -20.8% compared to the previous week (1,019,362). finally the positivity rate of 15.1% with a variation of +1.6% compared to the previous week (13.5%)
THE IMPORTANCE OF VACCINES
“As regards drugs and vaccines, the Italian situation is currently under control. our data is good and shows a drop in Covid infections. Now the important thing is to get vaccinated and make boosters. This is a fundamental step to consolidate the results. The goal is to vaccinate all subjects at risk due to age and pathologies and fragile subjects of all ages in January”. Thus the director general Aifa, Nicola Magrini, who yesterday attended the meeting of the crisis unit at the Ministry of Health. “In the meeting we took stock of the epidemiological situation and we will maintain vigilance,” he said.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/sanita/covid-cosa-prevede-la-nuova-circolare-del-ministero-della-salute/ on Sat, 31 Dec 2022 07:08:18 +0000.