“The state of emergency” Covid is over and certainly “we are in a different phase: the obligations have been reduced, we have substantially passed the Green pass and the obligation to wear masks is limited to only a few areas. But woe to think that the pandemic has magically disappeared. There is not a button that you press and make the pandemic disappear. The number of cases is significant, the circulation of the virus is still quite high in our country and therefore we must keep an element of attention. “Health Minister Roberto Speranza repeats his warning in an interview with Sky Tg24.
Speranza recalled how “the two essential tools” are the masks – on which “a strong push to individual responsibility is needed, to use them when there is a risk” both indoors and outdoors – and then the vaccines that have allowed us new freedoms. “We are in the conditions we are in, that is, we have also turned the page with respect to the state of emergency – underlined the minister – thanks to the fact that over 90% of Italians” over 12 years “have completed primary school” vaccination with two doses. However “we must also insist on the third dose, because there are still many people who are in a position to do it “and have not yet received it and instead” it is essential to protect themselves. And then we have identified some categories for which a second booster is required and recommended “. These are the over 80s, guests of the RSA and the frail 60-79 year olds, groups to which Speranza addresses itself as follows:”My appeal, my recommendation to these people, is to ask for a fourth dose“of vaccine,” a second booster “.
MASKS – “The ordinance that I signed” on masks, “which is the result of a vote of Parliament and is its translation, provides for the obligation to wear a mask again in three fundamental areas: the first is that of means of transport, in all indoor places where sports and entertainment events take place, and then clearly throughout the world of health, hospitals, Rsa, health centers, outpatient clinics. In all other areas there is a recommendation. that people must rely on their own responsibility. Not having an obligation does not mean not having to use the mask in the conditions in which it may be necessary and in the workplace, therefore, the indication is an indication of maximum attention and recommendation“underlined Speranza.
“The social partners, therefore trade unions, the world of industry, employers’ representatives – he explained – have chosen to keep the protocols that consider the mask as still indicated. There is no regulated obligation, nor regulated by my ordinance, but there are protocols that are shared and signed by organizations representing the world of work that indicate the use of the mask as correct. My opinion is that we have entered a different phase in which the essential issue is the responsibility of each of us, and the responsibility of each of us exists beyond the obligations. We use the mask on all occasions where there is a risk of contagion“, exhorted the minister.” In some cases there is a legal obligation, of my ordinance, which requires a mask because the risks are much more significant, in other areas there is no obligation, but there is anyway a recommendation “.
“And also the open-closed distinction – specified Speranza – it is clear that it is an important distinction that we have always considered, but there may also be moments outdoors where the mask has not been mandatory for many weeks now, and where they build real situations and conditions in which there is a risk of being infected. Well, in those cases, even if you are outdoors, it makes sense to use a mask “. The mask, is the message, “should always be considered an important tool in the fight” at Covid.
BOOSTER – “The hope of the scientific authority at the international level is that in the autumn we could have a new” anti-Covid “vaccine adapted to the Omicron variant” of Sars-CoV-2. “We do not yet have certain dates written on the calendar, but the prevailing hypothesis is that in the fall, we hope for the start” of the season, “we may have a vaccine adapted to the new variants” of the virus. And “if this were true, we imagine we can offer this vaccine to a much larger segment of the population,” said Speranza.
