Covid state of emergency, until when? Hypothesis extension

The state of emergency for Covid in Italy: until when? The theme returns to divide the world of politics and that of science. The measure expires on 31 July but the Draghi government is considering the possibility of a further extension, perhaps even until the end of the year. This is a hypothesis that agitates the Brothers of Italy. Read also Meloni: “Extension is crazy hypothesis” “We learn from the press that the Draghi government is thinking of an extension of the state of emergency to 31 December 2021. A hypothesis that, if confirmed, would be crazy and that as Brothers of Italy we A year and a half after the outbreak of the epidemic, it is no longer acceptable that the most elementary rules of democracy and the principles of the rule of law such as freedom of movement and business can be trampled on or violated by the government in the name of emergency. 2021 must be the year of the return to normality: our legal system is able to manage the pandemic with the ordinary powers and instruments it already has, in compliance with the Constitution and the prerogatives of Parliament “, he writes on Facebook the president of Fratelli d’Italia Giorgia Meloni. “The Draghi government unequivocally denies the hypothesis of an extension of the state of emergency until 31 December 2021”, Fran cesco Lollobrigida, group leader of Fdi in the Chamber. Boccia: “No hypocrisies, extension until the virus is defeated” Francesco Boccia, deputy for the Democratic Party and head of local authorities of the National Secretariat, expressed himself in favor of an extension. “The state of emergency will be extended until Covid-19 is definitively defeated. It is hypocritical to think of canceling it at this stage. To those who still use the state of emergency as a political weapon, I want to remind you that it is used for administrative procedures of the Regions and of the Emergency Commissioner himself “, says Boccia, leaving Montecitorio.” It happens every time there is an active emergency but, often, forgotten by the media and by Matteo Salvini. There are dozens of active national emergencies not because there is still the natural disaster that generated it but because investments and reconstruction are not finished and the procedures that accompany these phases can only be done with the extension of the same state of emergency “, adds the representative of the Democratic Party.” All this does not mean limitations to the procedures or personal freedoms of citizens but speed of action to restart and to always be ready in case it happens again “. Experts on the extension of the possible extension of the state of emergency also speak the experts. “It is right to extend the state of emergency until December, to give flexibility to the organization in a situation that is fine for now, but which could give us a tail. And therefore flexibility maintained over time is welcome”, virologist Fabrizio Pregliasco, professor at the State University of Milan, tells Adnkronos Salute about the decision that the Executive should take by the hour. A measure that should not be read, according to Pregliasco, as a negative signal, because “the vaccine seems to work even with variants and therefore – he underlines – there should not be the weight of the proportional effect of severe cases”. “I agree and I think it is right”, says Massimo Andreoni, scientific director of the Italian Society of Infectious and Tropical Diseases (Simit) and head of Infectious Diseases at the Tor Vergata Polyclinic in Rome. “There are variants – he observes – In some European countries there are outbreaks with increasing cases, and after the latest events on AstraZeneca vaccinations could slow down. We must be prepared in the autumn and to do so we need an extension of the state of emergency”. Pierluigi Lopalco also marries the Draghi line: “I think it is necessary to extend the state of emergency. First of all because the pandemic is far from over. It is also important to give a strong signal of caution until the word can really be written. end “, says Lopalco, epidemiologist and health councilor of the Puglia Region. “In an emergency, unfortunately, health policy decisions must also be made based on weak evidence (not absent). The same rules as ordinary health management cannot be applied in a pandemic. Institutional communication must resume its guiding role and explain well to the citizen the reason for certain choices “, adds Lopalco. According to Maria Rita Gismondo, however, the possible extension” is obviously a political decision that does not only concern the circulation of the virus, because if it only concerned this it would not make sense. the trend of the Covid-19 epidemic, but “the possibility of managing the situation more easily is still needed at the level of health strategy”, observes Gismondo, director of the Clinical Microbiology, Virology and Bio-emergency Diagnostics Laboratory of the hospital Sack of Milan.