"In Italy we are on the right road" Health Minister Roberto Speranza said Tuesday as he reported to the Senate on the coronavirus.
"We know the virus more and more and we have adopted territorial prevention measures, in workplaces, as well as safety protocols in hospitals and health facilities", he continued.
"But let's not illude ourselves. There can be no 'zero risk' without a vaccine. Today the number of people to have been infected crossed the 13-million threshold and over half a million have died," Speranza said.
"We cannot lower our guard and we must not be divided about this.
"There is even legitimate debate within the scientific community before we have a new vaccine. But no one says it is not necessary to wear facemasks, that it is not necessary to respect the minimum distance of one metre or that it is not necessary to respect the hygiene rules, stating with frequently washing one's hands.
These three essential rules can make it possible for us to manage co-existence with the virus", said Speranza. "We have saved thousands of human lives in Italy with the decisions made, preventing the high wave from flooding southern Italy too. We set a course during the storm that was subsequently useful for others and today has been followed almost all over the world."
"We are out of the most dramatic period but we are not yet safe. The virus continues to circulate, albeit in a less intense form with a prevelence of asymptomatic cases, and we are exposed to the risk of importing COVID from Italians returning from trips abroad and citizens of other countries who arrive or transit in Italy. We began to restart on May 4. The primary measure to revive our economy is to rigorously respect the prevention measures that have been adopted."
On the extension of the containment measures already adopted in the Prime Minister's Decree of 11 June, the minister explained that "To be coherent with this position, the government intends to adopt a new decree that extends the measures currently in force until July 31".
The main ones are the:
"The ban on entry or transit in Italy today regards those who, in the previous 14 days, have stayed or transited in 13 countries: Armenia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brazil Bosnia Herzegovina, Chile, Kuwait, North Macedonia, Moldova, Oman, Panama, Peru and the Dominican Republic.
They are nations with a high virus incidence percentage in relation to the population and very low resilience in terms of prevention and control systems. Flights to and from the countries mentioned in the ordinance have been suspended in order to guarantee an adequate level of health protection. We will constantly update this list on the basis of analysis of the evolution of the data."
"We have upheld 14-day quarantine as a precautionary measure for all arrivals from extra-EU and extra-Schengen countries in order to avoid the spread of contagion. At the moment special attention is being paid to migrant-boat landings on our coasts, with rigorous controls and the obligation of quarantine for all those who arrive."
"No form of underestimation can be allowed”, minister Speranza added.
In parallel with these measures, the government is engaged on four priority fronts every day. These are:
"School personnel will be subjected to serological tests", minister Speranza concluded. "Commissioner Arcuri has already issued a tender competition for the test kits. A model of random molecular tests is also being studied in order to monitor the school population during the year."
Source Ansa
Data di pubblicazione: 15 July 2020 , ultimo aggiornamento 15 July 2020