what to do in cases of Covid

The start of the school year in Sicily, with the return of students and teachers to the classroom after long months of distance learning due to the Covid emergency, was bumpy. Executives had to juggle from the first days (there are those who reopened their doors on September 14 and those only today) with suspicious cases, full-blown cases, sanctions and radical checks. In the province, some municipalities have postponed the reopening. To combat the Coronavirus, but at the same time avoid stubborn lessons and unequal behavior between the various realities, the Region aims to further increase measures against contagion in schools.

On the island, in particular – through a joint document of the regional departments of the Epidemiological and Educational Observatory of Health Activities and the University that recalls the guidelines of the Higher Institute of Health on the management of cases in schools, among students o School operators – Usca is set up dedicated precisely to critical situations and to the realization of quick swabs in schools, allowing the result to be disseminated in a few minutes.

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The Usca school, in fact, will have at its disposal a specific mobile telephone reference line that, once activated, will be immediately available to those responsible and referents of the schools precisely to speed up each procedure in case of need. Therefore, if during the lessons a student or a school operator presents symptoms, the Usca school will go to the institution in question for the administration of the rapid antigen test which, in case of positivity, will be repeated with a molecular test for of the Department of Prevention of the Asp competent for the territory.

In addition, according to the guidelines of the ISS (which considers close contacts of an established case the students of the entire class present in the 48 hours prior to the appearance of the student’s symptoms), the rest of the class will be subjected to isolation and later a diagnostic test. While waiting for the test result or in the event that the swab comes back negative, the class lessons will be held regularly.

If, on the other hand, the symptomatic student has been absent from school for more than 48 hours, the peers will not be subjected to fiduciary isolation and will continue to attend school.

The document was sent, among others, to the regional office of the school, the Asp and the union organizations of pediatricians and general practitioners of free choice.

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At the same time, the regional councilors for education Roberto Lagalla, health Ruggero Razza and social policies Antonio Scavone sent a joint letter to the mayors inviting them to “inter-institutional coordination” precisely with regard to schools. “Despite the exceptional situation generated by the spread of Covid 19 – we read – the national authorities and the Government of the Region have promptly adopted the necessary legislative remedies to handle the epidemiological emergency, limiting the use of derogatory administrative measures for emergencies. not codified or involving, by size, entire communities. Despite the picture that has just been outlined, it is common practice for some municipalities to resort to the adoption of contingent and urgent ordinances to impose more restrictive measures to contain contagion than those identified in the different normative acts issued, such as the closure, total or partial, schools and municipal centers for infants and young children “.

In the document, the representatives of the Musumeci government, recalling “the need for stable inter-institutional coordination, also in compliance with the principle of loyal collaboration that should characterize the administrative body,” they underline the “necessary coordination of actions to protect public health in concert”. with the competent health authorities, which could well circumscribe the contagion phenomenon by adopting the measures provided for in the health protocols that allow the continuation of school activities ”.

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In particular, the regional councilors invite the mayors “to communicate to the Health Authorities critical issues that may arise in schools, of all types and levels, that insist on the municipal territory, refraining from issuing contingent and urgent ordinances that, once Without the necessary consolation of the competent prevention departments, they appear because of the apodicticity of the decisions made there. ”The letter, issued recently, refers to Decree Law 19 of March 25, 2020, with the introduction of Article 3 , with which “the national government intended to limit the power granted to mayors to resort to the instrument of contingent and urgent ordinances” to face the emergency with measures other than those legally imposed. ”Finally, in the document, the Asp to provide all the support to the legal auditors.

And in line with the Region, Mayor Leoluca Orlando stands out. “Given the health needs and risks – he says – the options must be based on the judgment and professionalism of the health authorities. Not only because of the spirit of institutional collaboration but above all so that the options are scientifically based and effective to protect the health of students, those who live and work in schools, and our communities The mayors, who are also the maxims Health authorities in their respective cities cannot and certainly do not want to improvise as epidemiologists as school administrators do not and cannot improvise as epidemiologists. openings can be forced or subjected to different logics. “