On the day in which the weekly report certifies a further drop in the incidence of new infections, dropped from 48 to 39 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants, the Ministry of Health fires the new ordinance with the guidelines on the use of virus prevention tools. The document, which will remain in force until 31 December, confirms the obligation to wear a mask for “workers, users and visitors of health facilities within the wards that house frail, elderly or immunosuppressed patients, especially if with a high intensity of treatment”.
In outpatient clinics, “the discretion of general practitioners and pediatricians of free choice” is confirmed. The obligation ceases for children under the age of 6, for people with pathologies or disabilities incompatible with the use of the mask itself, as well as for people who have to communicate with a person with a disability so as not to be able to use of the device. Equally discretionary is the execution of the swab for access to the emergency rooms, the decision of which is deferred to the Health Directorates and the Regional Authorities. “Today I signed the ordinance limiting the compulsory wearing of masks in hospitals to the wards with the greatest intensity of care and with the most fragile patients in addition to the RSA – said the Minister of Health, Orazio Schillaci -. This testifies that we are finally getting out from this terrible pandemic that has limited our lives in the last three years and I am very confident that the WHO will also declare the end of the pandemic on May 20 – he adds -. We look to the future with optimism, but we are ready in case of new emergencies to intervene promptly to continue to safeguard public health and our citizens. We are heading towards the summer and look to next autumn with optimism, confident that the WHO will soon declare the end of the pandemic”.
A trust, that of the minister, strengthened by the numbers certified by the control room of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità. In Italy, the weekly covid incidence drops, with the figure that for the period 21-27 April stands at 39 cases per 100,000 inhabitants against the 48 recorded in the period 14-20 April. 23,132 new positive cases, with a change of -17.3% compared to the previous week, when there were 27,982 positives. There are 156 deaths, down compared to the previous week, when they were 191. Instead, the average Rt calculated on symptomatic cases, equal to 1.08, increased compared to the previous period and above the threshold epidemic. On the other hand, the employment rate in intensive care remained stable at 1%, while the employment rate in medical areas rose slightly – from 4.5% to 4.7% at a national level. The positivity rate, which was 6.9% between April 21 and 27, fell by 0.1% compared to the previous week. With regard to the territories, there are six regions at high risk; six are moderate risk and eight are classified as low risk. As for swabs, 333,138 were processed in the last week, marking a 16.5% drop compared to seven days earlier in which 398,788 were carried out.
