Covid Italia, Brusaferro: “Descent of infections has stopped, more monitoring is needed”

The reopening in Great Britain? “I believe that the assessment must be made on the basis of the local epidemiological situation, so good for the British if they can regain some freedoms.” that from 19 July the United Kingdom will reopen everything despite the new increase in infections due to the Delta variant. “With us – says the president of the Higher Institute of Health – the obligation to use the mask outdoors has been relaxed, but even in a phase of limited circulation of the virus such as the current one, it remains essential to maintain attention in risky situations, that is to say when we find ourselves in a crowd or in situations that do not allow distancing. We must not tire of remembering this. variants that, as we have seen, are capable of conquering the field very quickly “.” At the moment we do not have sufficient evidence to affirm that from from a clinical point of view, the Delta variant is less aggressive – explains Brusaferro – because infections are inserted in a context of vaccinated population in high percentages. More data is needed to understand the true clinical impact of the mutant strain. However, we know that if we are fully immunized with a double dose, the protection from the variant is very high, especially with regard to more serious effects, hospitalization and mortality. We rely heavily on our monitoring system, which covers all regions and guarantees reliable data. It is based on two pillars. The daily sequencing by the Regions on random samples and particular categories, for example people who become infected a second time or contract the infection even if vaccinated. These data converge in the fortnightly bulletin. The other pillar is the flash surveys on a representative sample of the population. In the last photograph, the Delta variant was growing. It is a system built to look for variants that are considered worrying and those that can potentially become so. Italy is further strengthening the sequencing activity “. Regarding the vaccine, Brusaferro states that “it is important in every age group to have completed the cycle, but especially for frail people over 60 years old. Currently out of 18 million over 60s, 11 million have received two doses (63%) and 83% have received at least one dose. It is very important that those who have not yet been seen at the vaccination services lose their hesitation. The hope is that the incidence of cases may fall further, but the data at the moment show that the decline has stopped. The bet is to keep the numbers as low as possible that guarantee us to be able to trace the positive cases “. As for the consequences of traveling abroad, “it depends on how we behave every day. If we leave vaccinated and observe prudent behavior we can feel safer. It just depends on us. There is a potential risk if you enter without protection among crowds from other countries. Upon return, it will be important to implement a case tracking and quarantine strategy. On the school – he concludes – the bet is to vaccinate as much as possible, especially in view of the variants that we cannot exclude a priori can become a very serious threat. The hope is that by September-October we can reach vaccination coverage that works as a shield ”.