«With the increase in infections in China, here in Italy I do not fear a return to that tragic February 2020 because I believe that there is enough data and experience at the moment to continue to do a good job. What must not happen instead is underestimating the problem».
dr Enrico Storti is today Director of the Anesthesia and Intensive Care Unit at the Cremona Hospital, but in February 2020 he was Chief Physician of the same department at the Hospital of Lodi and Codogno, the first Covid-19 outbreak in Italy, where he coordinated the diagnosis of “Patient 1 ” with dr Annalisa Malara. “I will never forget to see how in a few hours a western hospital became like a war hospital, with patients everywhere, all with a very serious medical condition and ambulances lined up to the end of the ring road,” recalls Storti, who instead For now, he says he’s “optimistic” about the responsiveness our country might have in the event of another new contagious wave: “The system has learned to redefine priorities against an infectious disease in order to make the best use of resources available, although it clearly depends on what we have in front of us, but I don’t think we need to face what we experienced in the first wave with the same intensity.” At the moment, the positive ones have Chinese travelers arriving in Italy sequenced swabs meant that the omicron is already circulating in our country, but the increase in infections According to experts, China could be fertile ground for the birth of new variants.
Dr. Storti, what mistake not to make at this stage of the increase in Covid-19 cases in China?
“I don’t want to see any tendency to underestimate the magnitude of a possible return of a very contagious wave. We had an armed truce, used the time available to vaccinate the population, and returned to what we can define as normal life. This is a legacy that we must not lose and that must serve an effective and coordinated multi-system response, composed of hospitals and local medicine, and supported by coordination between institutions, each with a clearly defined role.”
So would we be able to face a new wave today, stronger than the last ones?
“If we prepare seriously and in advance, I can say calmly that whatever comes up, we will have the right tools. We will certainly be better prepared than in the first wave of 2020. In the epidemiological curve, the criterion is a mathematical one: once the variables are understood, i.e. the type of virus, the strain and how high its infectivity can be, the predictability are then clear. We need to define a model in advance and keep it up to date».
Is Chinese Swab Sequencing a Prevention Tool?
“If measuring swab sequencing is considered scientifically useful to build a model to then infer our responsiveness, that’s fine, I see no reason to object.”
Which aspect can no longer be managed as before?
“We can no longer ask the social and health workers for the effort of the first waves because the situation is now known and we have to prepare earlier. I think of the personal sacrifice of doctors and nurses in the face of this catastrophe, and it cannot be repeated. None of us can forget when there was no vaccine and you knew that just by catching it you would die. Not preparing in advance would be a sign of unpreparedness, it means not having calculated all the variables and we cannot allow that.”
