From today we move on to making citizens and operators responsible with the recommendations “for the control of the spread of respiratory viruses in health, social-health and social-welfare facilities, including hospitality and long-term care facilities”. This is specified in the new circular signed by the Head of the Prevention Department of the Ministry of Health, Maria Rosaria Campitiello, and by the General Director of Prevention, Francesco Vaia
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Masks inside hospital departments and social-health residences that host fragile patients will no longer be mandatory, but their use is left to the evaluation of health directors. This is provided for in the new circular from the Ministry of Health issued today, after the expiration (June 30) of the ordinance that established the obligation to wear masks in these contexts.
The circular
The circular “recommends that the health directors of the aforementioned facilities, as holders of the hygiene-health functions, evaluate the opportunity to order the use of respiratory protection devices in their contexts, taking into account the spread of airborne viruses, the characteristics of the environments as well as the type of patients, workers or visitors who frequent them, based on the level of risk of infection and/or transmission (for example in the presence of respiratory symptoms or in consideration of seasonality) and the potential for the development of serious disease in the event of exposure”.
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Healthcare personnel
As for the staff, the health directors “will implement every measure relating to the protection of their health”. This taking into account the expiry of the provisions set out in the December 2023 Ordinance ‘Urgent measures regarding the containment and management of the Covid-19 epidemic concerning the use of respiratory protection devices’ and evaluating “the current clinical trend- epidemiological analysis of SarsCoV2 infection and flu-like syndromes, the availability of vaccines against the main viral acute respiratory infections, the increased diagnostic capabilities and the scientific evidence on the effectiveness of personal protective equipment to reduce viral transmission”. The recommendations are aimed at controlling the spread of respiratory viruses in health, social-health and social-welfare facilities, including hospitality and long-term care facilities.
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Precautions
It is also recommended to “strengthen with adequate information to staff, patients and, in general, to all those who are present in the aforementioned facilities, the hygiene and precautionary measures such as: frequent hand washing, constant cleaning of the environments and disinfection of surfaces with disinfectants active against microorganisms, adequate ventilation, correct waste management”. In facilities where there is no health director, it is up to the legal representative of the Institution, in agreement with the competent doctor, to identify the appropriate protection measures.
