From 1 October, the obligation to wear a mask on bus, train, metro and in hospitals, medical clinics and RSA could cease. According to what time.news Health learns, there is no desire on the part of the Ministry of Health to intervene between now and September 30, extending the obligation with a new ordinance. On the other hand, there could be a recommendation from the dicastery to wear it in case of gatherings. The question of the obligation of the Ffp2 mask in hospitals, clinics and Rsa, is the most delicate one and if there should be a more marked resurgence of the epidemiological curve, an intervention could arrive after 1 October only for this type of places.
Stop the masks on public transport? “To date the situation allows it – the virologist tells time.news Salute Fabrizio PregliascoProfessor of Hygiene at the State University of Milan – And, as I can also see from personal experience on trains, there is now a lot of intolerance, non-compliance with the obligation and difficulties in enforcing it “. Pregliasco however stresses the need to continue to carefully monitor the epidemiological picture and, in case of worsening, possibly restore restrictive measures.
“The new government should not underestimate the epidemiological situation – he asks Massimo Andreoni, head of infectious disease at the Tor Vergata Polyclinic in Rome and scientific director of the Italian Society of Infectious and Tropical Diseases (Simit) – Looking at all the data collected in these two and a half years, the containment measures – including the mask – have been a bulwark exceptional for reducing the spread of the virus. The epidemic is not over and letting the coronavirus circulate can also lead to new variants that are unpredictable. This is why I believe that the obligation to wear masks on means of transport, in hospitals and in the RSA must be confirmed “.
“If we abolish the use of masks” with a virus “that is so contagious today – each person infects about 19 – we give it the green light, especially in hospitals where people go to be treated and would run the risk of getting infected, not to mention of the risks of health workers, “he says Walter RicciardiProfessor of Hygiene at the Catholic University, regarding the expiration, on September 30, of the obligation to wear the protective device on public transport and in health facilities.
“I hope that there will be an extension of the obligation in these environments – continues Ricciardi – because otherwise the current trend of rising infections, triggered by the restart of the schools, will become even faster. There will already be problems, in a few weeks, for the rise of the pandemic curve in progress “.