The covid? “It never went away” and the sharp increase in infections in China, which prompted Italy to reintroduce compulsory swabbing for those arriving from the Asian country and the Ffp2 in hospitals by the end of April, does not surprise the Sardinian epidemiologist Giovanni Sotgiu . “In China, they eased measures after internal tensions, and Xi Jinping favored all social contacts and increased the spread of Omicron in a poorly vaccinated population with low-efficacy vaccines and few cases of infection, that is, low immunity.” A problem, combined with an election that is already having global repercussions: “In a short period of time, there have been 250 million cases in China alone and, as estimated by the Financial Times, between one and one and a half million deaths.” says Sotyu. “The virus problem is global, the risks are for everyone and it is wrong to focus on China. Those who stayed may have moved on to Australia and spread the virus before returning to Europe or the US. The prevalence of new variants can be high and we cannot make local decisions.”
Sotgiu agrees on the need to swab those arriving “from Asia”. Virological surveillance is required,” and any positive results must then be further verified to understand if new variants are in circulation. “The warning affects everyone, including Sardinia. For those who have not, the vaccine and booster and use of FFp2 masks are needed in these festive days where there are many crowded social contexts such as New Year’s Eve parties. Unfortunately, vaccine immunity declines and weakens over time, boosting is important and vaccination is the only immune system booster.”