Returning home helps and caregivers between quarantines, tests and fear of contagion. “The responsibility rests entirely with the families: there is no clear regulation”

Two hundred and fifty thousand people returning from Romania me Bulgaria, Countries for which there is a quarantine obligation, and return to work with old and sick. Few controls, difficult quarantine compliance, and no clear regulations. It is the delicate situation of maids and caretakers, and the families that hire them. “We are in a particular position – confirms the fattoquotidiano.it Lorenzo Gasparrini, secretary of the association Dominate, which unites employers – families they are very scared because home helpers and caregivers who were in their countries of origin are returning, where infections are still very high ”.

With the confinement, he explains, many people who work with the elderly or do house cleaning have returned to the East: many because they had lost the placeOthers because they are scared by the spread of the epidemic in Italy. Others worked in winter and left in summer to spend Holidays with their families of origin. But now these people they return to italy, posing a problem that alerts patrons, associations and -as reported by the fattoquotidiano.it – Also there Red Cross and the Scientific technical committee. Employers they don’t want to risk – as they often help the most fragile – but cannot force employees to undergo a tampon, and checking that isolation is respected is often difficult. In fact, in this sector, black people represent 60% and already in July, with the establishment of the isolation obligation, the Lazio Region Health Department had admitted that many private minivans and minibuses organized returns from Bulgaria and of Romania to circumvent the controls. In a difficult tug of war between security, rights and health.

In Italy it is estimated that beyond two million families they have a person employed for them: babysitters, housekeepers or caretakers. Many of them come fromEastern Europe, where there are new active outbreaks of coronavirus. For this, who comes from Romania and Bulgaria must spend 14 days in quarantine: the measure was introduced in July by the Minister of Health Roberto Speranza and then refreshed, down to the last dpcm. From the Acli patronage, an association for the promotion of workers’ rights, they explain that the workers from Bangladesh or Sri Lanka, for fear of being trapped in their country of origin, did not leave. Those who came from closer countries and were not afraid that their residence permit would expire left and returned: and now the problem of security arises, with the switchboards broke by employers.

The problem of isolation – “Those arriving from Romania and Bulgaria must remain isolated, but it was never said where – Gasparrini stresses – We had asked that hotels were available. Instead, what is happening is that families find another place, in the case of cohabiting caregivers, at their own expense ”. Those who live with the person they care for certainly cannot quarantine in the same home: the risk of infecting an already fragile person, due to advanced age or previous pathologies. But also home helpers or collaborators who do not usually live together do not have a suitable place to spend the period of isolation, because they share the flat with other compatriots or relatives. “Some families have made available apartments property of them, or houses of friends and acquaintances temporarily empty. Or they found accommodation on their own. And since these people cannot go out for any reason, employers often take care of the purchases as well. Of Asl Rome 1 They respond that it is not the responsibility of the national health system to find a place for those in fiduciary isolation and emphasize that quarantine continues to be the fundamental measure, which in no way can be replaced by tests. The tampon can and should be ordered in case of symptoms, by contacting the local health authorities or the treating physician.

But everything, Gasparrini reports, is on the shoulders of businessmen: both financially and as a responsibility. “Much has been made of those returning from vacation, but not of those returning to work. – explains Laura, 52 years old – I will have to pay the quarantine to the lady who works for my mother, who returns from Romania. In fact, it is like a period of illness. Nobody wants to limit the freedom to revisit families, but surely at a time like this it is a big security problem, so all possible precautions are needed ”. The cost of the bufferAs Acli’s sponsorship explains, it should not be the responsibility of the employer, but it is a commitment that many are willing to make to be safe. But the period of isolation is the responsibility of the employer and not the INPS.

What are the obligations of the workers – But the problem also extends to other workers who come from abroad: quarantine is mandatory for anyone entering the country from the non-Schengen area. “The lady who takes care of my 97-year-old mother comes from Russia – says Alessandra, who lives in Rome and is a doctor – I asked her to stay in Italy in the summer, but she did not want to listen to reasons and returned to her family. She arrives in a few days by plane and as a precaution I asked her to do quarantine me hyssop. She refuses, saying it’s by law you are not forced. Among other things, she lives with her sister: even if she stays at home for two weeks, what kind of isolation is that? A common situation, the associations confirm: for fear of testing positive (and losing their job) many people are reluctant to undergo the test. “I don’t know how many hours I spent on the phone to understand how I should do it: the labor lawyer To which I returned, I had to investigate, because the legislation is smoking ”. Another knot is yours and tampons: As these people often work with the elderly, children or the sick, testing is necessary. “But my caretaker He doesn’t have a car to go to the drive-in – Alessandra adds – she doesn’t feel obliged, but as far as I’m concerned she is: without him she won’t go back to my mother. Private labs only do serology, but I want the swab. In the end I asked the health insurance doctor to make the referral, but he will end up having to accompany her, it doesn’t seem right to me ”. And he insists: “We need clear and stricter legislation and many more controls.”

Control failures – Checks, in this sense, are a very thorny issue: first of all because in this sector black makes up 60%. Then, because those who return from Bulgaria or Romania usually do so with minivans or private minibuses, which are difficult to find. In Rome at the end of July, rapid test stations had been activated in the Tiburtina Station (where several buses from Eastern Europe arrived) and at the station anagnina bus, but soon the system showed failures: the same Department of Health of the Lazio Region had denounced that many the minivans had found a way around the controls, avoiding reaching the usual squares. But if the relationship of trust is broken, explain the social promotion associations, the employer has the right to terminate the relationship.

The point, concludes Gasparrini of the Domina association, is that employers and families they were left alone: “In fact, they have no protection.” Although, for example, contributions have been suspended for many companies, for employers not. During the confinement they could choose to interrupt the employment relationship or ‘freeze’ it, recovering the hours after the end of the emergency: a very difficult hypothesis in such an extensive period. “There is no national legislation and there has never been talk of any reduction, or refunds for tests and quarantines. More so now that, with the end of teleworking and going back to school, many families need even more someone to take care of their homes and their elders ”. But focusing only on the sensitivity of employers or workers themselves is not enough: “Not everyone has the same perception of risk, nor the same will to face the whole long process ”.

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