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“Immediate” closure in large cities or “an announced tragedy is coming.” Walter Ricciardi, scientific consultant to the Minister of Health, speaks in a televised intervention on Che tempo che fa and in the Press columns.
“In certain metropolitan areas, the closure must be done immediately. I would have done the red zone in Naples two weeks ago ”, he explains, speaking of a“ dramatic situation, sometimes tragic, getting worse and worse ”. It is “a foretold national tragedy. We need a single chain of command and we have to make quick decisions ”. In addition, he added, “we must strengthen doctors and nurses, also transferring people from one part of the country to another, because many of them are falling ill again.” It is a “war cabinet in these times and it cannot wait,” he warned, “everything was predictable. With Minister Speranza, we had already drawn up a plan on April 6 that, however, had to be implemented by the Regions. Some have. In fact, others are not. ”Ricciardi stressed that Minister Speranza recognizes the urgency of the situation” with the utmost seriousness, but then she confronts the other ministers and the Regions and the decision-making mechanisms are such that decisions are not taken as quickly as the minister would like “.”
Ricciardi reiterates the concept to the Press: “We need true citizen closures and it is up to the governors to proclaim them. I see a lot of people still walking the streets. In the big cities, I am thinking especially of Milan, Genoa, Turin and Naples, we have to act decisively and do it soon ”. When asked if the current measures are sufficient, Ricciardi responds: “The simple recommendation not to move from home reduces the incidence of infections by 3%, confinement by 125%. If we combine this with smart work, which is worth another 13% and the 15% determined by school closings, we get to that 60% that is needed to cool the epidemic. That is why I say that stopping everything for a moment where the situation is already out of control is the only possible solution ”.
On the fact that in hospitals the percentage of beds occupied by Covid patients has exceeded the safety threshold, he reports: “It is a disaster. In many regions, hospitalizations and surgeries are postponed. When we say that we postpone elective interventions that require postoperative in intensive care, we are talking about heart valve replacements or devastating oncology interventions to stop tumors. Already today mortality from cardiovascular and oncological diseases has increased by 10% ”. “The only solution – he emphasizes – is to cool down the epidemic curve. That is why I say that everyone, institutions and citizens, must play this card of differentiated measures well ”.
“It is not easy – he says – facing an epidemic of this magnitude, especially after years of cuts in health care. But there are also the responsibilities of those who had $ 1.4 billion available to hire staff and secure hospitals and instead did not. But now it is also necessary a greater involvement of family doctors, who must follow their patients to avoid the traffic jam of hospitals and emergencies ”. “We need to review – he adds – the governance of local health care. Either general practitioners move into a dependency relationship or they remain in the free profession but within stricter agreements with the public health service, from the point of view of the functions, tools and schedules of the studies.
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