The health workers have never “let go” of the mask, which remains mandatory where there are particularly fragile patients. A week that began with 650 infected with Covid-19 in twenty-four hours could hardly have ended in a different way: the latest bulletin from the Ministry of Health certifies 2,280 new cases between 24 and 30 August in Lombardy. Up 30% from the previous week, when they had already more than doubled compared to that of August 15th; in line with the + 28% recorded nationally and with an identical growth in the positivity rate of swabs (from 9.2 to 10.5%). These are numbers that Lombardy has not recorded since the first half of May, but the reversal from the summer decline began a month ago and was widely expected, at the end of the fourth pandemic summer which, like the previous ones, marks a rebound with returns from holidays . And yet autumn with its viruses is upon us, recalled the Welfare Department of the Region, refreshing, with a note to the Ats, the Asst and the Irccs, the latest news on protective measures in hospitalization facilities, such as hospitals and RSA: the only ones in which there is still some obligation to wear a mask or isolate, also lapsed for domestic positives from the beginning of August. “Covid lives with us thanks to vaccines and treatments without causing the damage of the early years – underlines the councilor Guido Bertolaso -. But for some categories of patients, such as the immunosuppressed and the frail, it can still be life threatening”. The circular reiterates that the positives “must absolutely not come into contact with frail patients and attend hospitals”, or other hospitalization such as the RSA which must continue to “guarantee isolation for any Sars-CoV-2 positive patients”. The update details when and who to swab, in the emergency room and even without Covid-like symptoms upon entry into the departments with inpatients at risk. He recalls that masks remain mandatory for workers, patients and visitors where there are “fragile, elderly or immunosuppressed” guests, but allows the health management to extend the obligation to other wards and waiting rooms and the ” recommended” in the emergency room and in the clinics dedicated to patients at risk. Access to caregivers, underlines the circular, must be “guaranteed” (provided they always wear the Ffp2); if a patient is positive they will be able to continue to assist him (with the protections of nurses), but only if she is a minor, giving birth or dying. The rules for healthcare workers do not change, who if they have Covid “should not have contact with patients or colleagues”; if they have had contact with those who have it, it is recommended to “maintain” the five days of self-surveillance with daily swabs. Finally, the Welfare recalls “the importance of promptly reporting” to the Ats “the presence of outbreaks, also in order to activate insights through genomic sequencing”.
Ways to deal with invisible bugs
September 28, 2023
