We loved each other so much in the days of Covid. Thus ends, with the irrevocable resignation of the second, the season of the anti-virus couple Emiliano-Lopalco. The president of the Puglia Region holds to himself the delegation to health. Does the epidemiologist go back to being a full-time epidemiologist? Not at all. Pier Luigi Lopalco will however remain in the Regional Council. And, one imagines, he will continue to attend, who knows if with the same diligence, the television talk shows. A more or less fixed presence, Lopalco has rightfully joined that group of epidemiologists, virologists, scientists who are stationed in the television studios to discuss Covid and also various amenities, perhaps arguing with each other and confusing those poor viewers who believe in the world of science.
The idyll between the volcanic president and the former shy epidemiologist was born in March 2020. “The president of the Puglia Region, Michele Emiliano, has appointed with his own decree Pietro Luigi Lopalco, full professor of Hygiene at the University of Pisa, in charge of special structure of the ‘Regional coordination of epidemiological emergencies’ project within Amess, a strategic regional agency for health and social issues “. The former magistrate presented the new manager as a sort of Cristiano Ronaldo of epidemiology. And indeed, the professor’s resume is very respectable. But, football history teaches, Cristiano Ronaldo come and go. And when they leave, it is always difficult to replace them. Ask Juventus to believe. Then, Lopalco, in the last elections, made the leap of species: from technician to politician. It was October 2020, the elections just passed had seen Lopalco himself, strong of the 15 thousand preferences obtained in the Bari district, enter the Regional Council with the “Con Emiliano” group.
In this year and a half, the Cristiano Ronaldo of the epidemiologists had to face a really complicated moment in Puglia, also thanks to a “push” dictated by Emiliano. Before the summer of 2020, the president, in full pandemic, had the intuition to invite half of Italy to Puglia, saying that he had “a very powerful virus protection device” on his side. The famous last words: from autumn 2020 Puglia will pay dearly, with closures and red areas in bursts. Also thanks to the carefree summer? It definitely didn’t help. By the way: the well-informed murmur that on several occasions Lopalco, as councilor for health, did not like several of Emiliano’s choices. Perhaps the seaside countryside falls within the category? Ah, to know. Also because BrindisiReport has tried to contact the professor on several occasions, especially to take stock of the (disastrous) health of Brindisi. Lopalco – taking Emiliano’s example – has always discreetly denied himself. After all, we are not talking about television lounges and debates, but about questions posed directly by the territory.
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