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 expiry on June 30 of the ordinance that established the obligation to wear masks in these contexts. “The health directors of the aforementioned structures, as holders of the hygiene-health functions – it reads – are recommended to evaluate the opportunity to order the use of respiratory protection devices in their contexts”.
The circular ‘Recommendations on the use of respiratory protection devices in healthcare facilities for the protection from acute viral infections’, signed by the Director of Prevention of the Ministry of Health, Francesco Vaia, “recommends” that health directors of healthcare facilities “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 considering seasonality) and the potential for the development of serious disease in the event of exposure”.
As for the staff, the health directors “will implement all measures related to the protection of their health”. This is taking into account the expiry of the provisions set out in the December 2023 Ordinance ‘Urgent measures for the containment and management of the Covid-19 epidemic concerning the use of respiratory protection devices’ and assessed “the current clinical-epidemiological trend of the SarsCoV2 infection and flu-like syndromes, the availability of vaccines against the main acute respiratory viral 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 healthcare, social healthcare and social assistance facilities, including hospitality and long-term care facilities. 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, hygiene and precautionary measures such as: frequent hand washing, constant cleaning of 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.
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