Day in remembrance of the victims of Covid: what remains of the pandemic?

March 18th is day in memory of the victims of Covidis the symbolic day of the pandemic, the one in which in 2020 military trucks loaded with coffins paraded through Bergamo. It was 2020 and four years later that day seems very distant. The numbers say it. The data from the latest weekly monitoring by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità say that the infections in the last week were 854, already well below the figure for June 2023. 880 patients hospitalised, 28 in intensive care, von an occupancy of 0.3% of beds.

What has remained of the pandemic in our lives? You still see masks in the supermarket and on public transport, tests are done before hospital interventions. The consequences of isolation on everyone's mental health remain, and studies that tell all sides of Covid and the pandemic are multiplying.

Masks

The Ministry of Health has extended the obligation to wear masks, both surgical and FFP2, in healthcare facilities, RSAs and similar until 30 June 2024. The obligation concerns workers, users and visitors of health facilities within the departments that host frail, elderly or immunosuppressed patients. It applies to workers, users and visitors of social-health and social-welfare facilities. In other departments, healthcare companies decide on their use.

These are the only remaining obligations, but it is not unusual to see people carrying the masks on public transport, in crowded places, at the supermarket. They are a form of awareness of the circulation of viruses, a desire not to get sick, but also not to make others sick.

Hands

Already in a May 2023 survey, for almost two out of three Italians (65%), washing your hands has become more important with Covid, which has brought awareness to how poor hand hygiene is an important vehicle for transmitting germs. This is according to research carried out by the Opinion Leader 4 Future Observatory, the project on conscious information born from the collaboration between the Credem Group and the High School in Media Communication and Entertainment (ALMED) of the Catholic University. 55% of those interviewed said they have been washing their hands more frequently since the arrival of Covid.

Life expectation

From 2019 to 2021, Covid reduced global life expectancy by 1.6 years. The trend reversal compared to previous years is clear according to the study published by the Lancet. “For adults around the world, the Covid-19 pandemic has had a more profound impact than any other event observed in half a century, including wars and natural disasters,” says one of the authors of the work Austin E. Schumacher, of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation of the University of Washington in the USA. “During the pandemic, life expectancy decreased in 84% of countries and territories, demonstrating the potentially devastating effect of new pathogens.”

Vaccinations

The vaccination campaign did not encourage vaccination. This year, experts have continued to recommend the vaccine especially to the frail. The Gimbe Foundation, using data from the Ministry of Health, published an independent analysis on Italy's positioning for vaccinations: in the 60-69 age group it is in 14th place, with coverage of 5.7%, in Europe, in the 70-79 age group it is 15th and in the over 80s it is 14th. The lowest figures in the Southern regions.
The anti Covid vaccine is not linked to the winter season. It can always be done also because the virus can arrive in waves and with different variants. The recommendation remains to protect yourself even though we are no longer in a global health emergency. The vaccine is free for everyone, it is not mandatory and is recommended for frail people and those over 60. The booster is valid for one year, like the flu shot.

Mental health

The Italian Society of Psychiatry, on the occasion of World Mental Health Day on 10 October, published worrying data: diagnoses of mental disorders are constantly growing, with increases of 30% especially in the most fragile categories and in the youngest. «The Covid-19 pandemic, in three years, has accelerated the timing of another pandemic, even more dangerous for the future: with a 30% increase in diagnoses, as indicated by the WHO, but which every specialist was able verify in your daily work, the prevalence of mental disorders is about to exceed that of cardiovascular diseases. Depression and other mental pathologies will be the most widespread in the world even before 2030, the year in which the WHO had estimated the “overtaking””. These numbers are worth 4% of the gross domestic product in Italy between direct and indirect expenses.