Record covid infections in Lombardy? “Let’s avoid being overwhelmed by numbers. The data must be analyzed on the basis of what we know about the virus today. We are also careful about how we communicate. Those who live on the front line, in hospitals, have a very different picture of the virus compared to a year ago “. Guido Bertolaso spoke with Corriere della Sera about the new boom of infections in the Region, 28,795, of which almost 5,000 in Milan city, underlining that “Omicron is more contagious and this explains such a high number. But it is less lethal, among those vaccinated with three doses then the symptoms are very different from Delta. The positive parameter is deceptive. For this reason, despite the fact that the record changes little, fortunately. Vaccines work – says the consultant of the Lombardy Region for the vaccination campaign – they make contagion and even the disease manageable among those who have completed the three doses. The key is here. Accelerate more and more on the vaccination campaign. In Lombardy we are almost 60 per cent of third doses, we have to accelerate further ”.
“The system is holding up well – continues Bertolaso - The numbers are serious, but somehow spoiled by the extraordinary work being done on the search for the virus. From 20 to 27 December, Lombardy made 270 thousand molecular swabs and 830 thousand antigenic. A million tests. In the rest of Italy there are 4 million. So the ratio is one million to four. It means there is more diagnostic activity here, more scrutiny and more investigation of the virus. Let us remember that Lombardy, even though it is still in the white zone for a while, the pressure on hospitals is lower than in other areas of Italy. The wards are not closed, the clinics and interventions take place. A year ago everything was very different. On Omicron we have a study with Bicocca University: out of 540 cases tested only 14 required hospitalization. The incidence curve is highest among the unvaccinated or among those who have not completed the third dose. And among children up to 10 years of age, they are the ones who bring the virus home. We need to increase vaccines among children and adolescents. Today only 10% of children are vaccinated, but compared to the national figure we are at 30% “.
Regarding the pads, Bertolaso adds that “vaccinated with three doses should not be tested if they have no symptoms. Contact tracing must take precedence for the unvaccinated, the most frail or those who have not completed their cycle. If we eliminate from the queues those who do not have the urgency to be tested, because they have three doses, because they have no symptoms or only for the green pass, then we also reduce the pressure on the tampons. Net that the centers and vaccination lines have been increased. Those who have taken the three doses are less ‘dangerous’ for themselves and for others. We need to think of a mitigated contagiousness that we must govern. Omicron is serious but it doesn’t provoke what we saw last year. The situation from an epidemiological point of view must be managed thanks to the many knowledge we have now. In my opinion, someone with three doses of the vaccine can avoid quarantine if they have no symptoms. He has to increase his temperature self-control and health precautions, but if there are no symptoms even in case of close contact it makes no sense to isolate him from the world “.
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