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".
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