Face masks, remote working if COVID worsens says health ministry

(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 30 - The health ministry on Friday published a circular recommending face masks and remote working if the COVID-19 situation worsens amid the feared spread of new cases from China and as winter makes circulation conditions easier.
    If the situation worsens, the circular said, it recommended the use of masks indoors, working from home and reducing mass gatherings, indoor ventilation and intensification of fourth doses of the anti-Covid vaccine and an additional dose for certain risk categories.
    The circular, called circular 'Interventions in place for the management of the circulation of SarsCoV2 in the winter season 2022-23'', also provides suggestions to "prepare at regional level a rapid adaptation of actions and services in case of increased demand for assistance".
    The circular also recommends strengthening surveillance systems and increasing genomic sequencing to detect new variants of the SarsCoV2 virus.
    It will be "essential", it said, "to ensure a volume of sequencing sufficient to monitor circulating viruses and the emergence of new variants, and an adequate diagnostic capacity of laboratories." Therefore, it is strongly recommended, at least in hospitals and emergency rooms, to collect samples for molecular testing, to "ensure in each region a minimum number of samples for genotyping". (ANSA).