Covid, ministry circular: “Italy prepares”. London and Paris, negative test obligation for arrivals from China

After Italy and Spain, France has also decided to strengthen border control measures for passengers arriving from China, to deal with the risks associated with the explosion of Covid-19 cases in the country since the end of the “zero Covid” strategy ” . The government announced, on Friday 30 December, the implementation of three measures aimed at “protecting the French” from the risks of the emergence of new variants.

The British government is preparing to announce the obligation of a negative Covid test carried out before travel for arrivals in the country from China. The BBC reports it.

«There are 26 positive swabs in the screening carried out yesterday afternoon at Malpensa for 56 passengers on the flight from Tianjin (China). We therefore continue to record a positivity rate close to 50 percent. Now, as for the remaining samples of December 26, we will continue the analyzes for sequencing, hoping to still find variants already present in Italy”. This was communicated by the Councilor for Welfare of the Lombardy Region, Guido Bertolaso, in relation to the screening carried out yesterday at Malpensa on the flight arrived from China. «Monday 2 January – continues the regional owner at Welfare – we will have the results of the sequencing and we will be able to find out more. The action will continue until the end of January when the sample collected will certainly be more significant». “In fact, I remember – he adds – that this is a public health operation to try to understand what comes from the Asian country, because as experience has taught us, even in a small sample, if an aggressive and more contagious variant is present, it prevails over all the others”.

In Italy, at the moment, the sequences present in the Icogen platform relating to the XBB variant called Gryphon, which probably contributed to the explosion of Covid cases in China, are equal to 2% of the total, a substantially stable value compared to the November bulletin. This is highlighted by the ISS monthly bulletin on variants, relating to December, which reports the genomic sequences deposited weekly by regional laboratories on the Icogen platform (Italian Covid-19 Genomic) and ISS.

China strikes back on anti-Covid restrictions imposed by some countries, including Italy. The Global Times, a Communist Party tabloid, states that “a small number of countries and regions, such as the US and Japan, see China’s reopening as another possibility to defame Beijing”. It is the accusation that they are adopting a “dirty political trick” to “sabotage the 3 years of Chinese efforts in the fight against Covid and to attack the system”. As for Italy, “it is imposing mandatory tests for travelers arriving from China, yet its government has said that no new mutation has been found in recent arrivals”.

“Today the real and serious problem of Italian healthcare is the hospital emergency room which does basic medicine”. It is the message that Alberto Zangrillo, pro-rector of the Vita-Salute San Raffaele university in Milan and director of the Department of anesthesia and intensive care at the IRCCS San Raffaele hospital, addresses via Twitter to those he defines as “nostalgic for oriental virology”, referring to the alarm China which has been in the media spotlight for several days. The Asian giant is grappling with a surge in Covid infections, and the concern of the rest of the world is also that, in the wake of this high viral circulation, new, more dangerous variants may emerge. But for the expert, the focus must remain on what he believes is the real emergency. An emergency that affects the operation of hospital emergency rooms.

«The important thing is that at the moment there are no new variants. There is Omicron, on which the Italians are safe. So I hope they can have a peaceful New Year and Epiphany». She said it this morning Matthew Salvini on the sidelines of the visit to the construction site of the former «Luciano Manara» barracks in Rome. “If this were not the case, Europe must move – added Salvini -. We can only swab at Fiumicino or Malpensa. This morning I spoke with the European Commissioner for Transport. At the moment Europe sees no need to intervene, and therefore I can only wish everyone a Happy New Year, because the Italians have already done their homework abundantly”

For the winter of 2022-23, 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”. This was stated by the Ministry of Health in the new circular. In particular, it is recommended to check 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”.

“In light of the lifting of travel restrictions announced by the Chinese government and which will come into force on January 8, I urge you to remain very vigilant as epidemiological data or reliable tests for China are rather scarce, the general vaccination coverage in China it is low and there is no equivalence decision between Chinese vaccination or recovery certificates and the EU Covid-19 digital certificate. This was written by Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides in a letter sent to the 27 member countries after yesterday’s meeting of the Health Security Committee.

«The Italian data» of the latest Covid monitoring by the ISS-Ministry of Health control room «are those of a virus on the corner, so let’s try not to import new problems from China. In Italy the situation is very calm and Covid is no longer a problem as the latest numbers tell us. Let’s avoid a return fire. No alarm but fair observation and then stimulate those who have not made it to get the fourth dose of the vaccine ». Thus to Adnkronos Salute Matteo Bassetti, director of Infectious Diseases of the San Martino hospital in Genoa.

The use of masks, the circular reads, “is effective in reducing the transmission of respiratory viruses and in the event that an evident epidemiological deterioration is documented with serious clinical impact and/or on the functioning of welfare services, their use in enclosed spaces, aimed in particular at protecting people at high risk of serious illness”. Similarly, “in the event of a possible significant worsening of the epidemiological picture, the temporary adoption of other measures can be evaluated, such as working from home or limiting the size of events involving gatherings”. At the moment in Italy the use of respiratory protective devices is mandatory for workers, users and visitors to healthcare facilities and nursing homes. The circular also calls for ensuring “adequate ventilation in closed environments, a fundamental measure to reduce the risk of transmission of SarsCoV2 and other respiratory viruses”. The ministry also recommends the anti-Covid vaccination in the 2022-2023 winter season, with the aim of “continuing to put the elderly and frail in safety as a priority, protecting them from serious illness and hospitalization”. The administration of the fourth doses with bivalent vaccines is recommended for categories at risk, and an additional booster dose with mRNA vaccine in the bivalent formulation «is currently recommended for the following categories of people who have already received a second booster dose with monovalent mRNA vaccine, once at least 120 days have passed since the same or since the last infection: people aged 80 and over, RSA guests, people aged 60 and over with frailty. At the request of the interested party, all the other over-60s who have already received a second booster can, however, also be vaccinated with a further dose of vaccine. Furthermore, from 09/12/22 the recommendation of the anti-Covid vaccination was extended to children in the age group 6 months – 4 years (included) who present frail conditions.

In China, about nine thousand people are likely to be dying a day from Covid. This is estimated by the British research company Airfinity, which just a few days ago spoke of five thousand deaths a day. Deaths in China since December 1 may have reached 100,000 for a total of more than 18 million infections, the company added. Expecting a peak of new cases on January 13: 3.7 million per day. The Guardian reports it.

«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”. These are the conclusions of the circular ‘Interventions in place for the management of the circulation of Sars-CoV-2 in the 2022-2023 winter season’, signed by the director of Prevention of the Ministry of Health, Gianni Rezza, and by the director of Programming Stefano Lorusso, and elaborated with the support of the Higher Institute of Health (ISS). The technicians highlight «the need to intensify the sequencing in order to reach a sufficient number to identify the possible circulation of new variants. It is particularly important to avoid the congestion of health facilities by limiting the incidence of serious illness from Covid-19 and the complications of the flu in people at risk, above all protecting the most fragile people”.

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. These are some of the actions indicated by the Ministry of Health, in the event of a worsening of the epidemiological situation, in the circular “Interventions in place for the management of the circulation of SarsCoV2 in the 2022-23 winter season”. The document provides ideas for “preparing a rapid adaptation of actions and services at the regional level in the event of an increased request for assistance”.

“In the event of a possible significant worsening of the Covid epidemiological picture, the temporary adoption of other measures can be evaluated, such as working from home or limiting the size of events involving gatherings”. This is what the circular ‘Interventions in place for the management of the circulation of Sars-CoV-2 in the 2022-2023 winter season’ provides, signed by the director of Prevention of the Ministry of Health, Gianni Rezza, and by the director of Programming Stefano Lorusso, and elaborated with the support of the Higher Institute of Health (ISS).