From today, there will be an end to the obligation to wear masks for workers, users and visitors in the departments of health facilities hosting frail, elderly or immunosuppressed patients (identified by the health departments of the facilities themselves), and of social-health and social-welfare facilities, from RSAs to hospices. This is what is established in the draft circular from the Department of Prevention of the Ministry of Health. Once the obligation has lapsed, the document “recommends that the medical directors of health, social-health and social-welfare facilities, including hospitality and long-term care facilities, as holders of health and hygiene functions, evaluate the opportunities to arrange the use of respiratory protection devices in the different contexts of your facility, taking into account the spread of airborne viruses, the characteristics of the environments (for example ventilation) as well as the type of patients, workers or visitors who frequent them, depending the level of risk of infection or transmission (for example in the presence of respiratory symptoms or in consideration of seasonality) and the potential for development of serious disease in case of exposure”.
The previous ordinance, in addition to providing for the obligation to wear a mask for departments frequented by fragile people, gave discretion to the health departments of the facilities to decide on the use of respiratory protection devices in different departments – such as emergency rooms – and in waiting rooms, explaining that it was also possible to arrange their use for all those with respiratory symptoms.
The new circular highlights that “with regard to healthcare personnel, health directors will implement all measures relating to such personnel. To this end, it may also be useful to consult the instructions available on the dedicated web page of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità”. Finally, “health directors are recommended to provide adequate instructions to staff, people undergoing treatment and visitors on compliance with appropriate organizational measures such as triage, compliance with standard precautions (such as hand hygiene) and on the necessary environmental measures, including regular cleaning of floors and disinfection of surfaces with disinfectants active against viruses, frequent ventilation and correct waste management”.
