The hunt for the tampon and the possible rules of Christmas

It is a run-up to Christmas made not only among gifts, but among tampons. There are lines outside every pharmacy in Italy that does quick tests. All booked until Christmas and beyond for those who take reservations, long waits for others. The infections increase, the tracking jumps and it’s a swab hunt. Requests have increased since the Green Pass went into effect and there has been a surge with the enhanced certificate.

It is not only the queue of the unvaccinated, it is also that of those who swab for contact with a positive, to dispel a doubt, to go with greater safety to meet friends and relatives. There are more than 700 thousand tampons that are done every day in Italy with an expense of millions of euros. Most are unsanitary made in pharmacies, at 15 euros each and the result, not always correct, in about ten minutes.

Who does not find a place goes to DIY test that can also be bought at the supermarket, but it is not valid for the health authorities. These are also running low. The third way is that of the private molecular buffer without going through the Asl with a result between 24 and 48 hours. It is an increasingly overloaded system that cannot go on. School is the litmus test of the situation. “I do not have official data on schools, we have remained at that of 10 thousand classes in DAD out of 400 thousand, but I believe that in recent days the number has increased,” said Antonello Giannelli, president of the national association of principals.

The Prime Minister Mario Draghi will decide only on Thursday 23, after seeing the latest data, whether to put new restrictions on Christmas and New Year. An almost certain first measure could be the mandatory outdoor mask across the country. There is already in many cities. The duration of the Super Green Pass should decrease and once again the vaccination campaign should be given new impetus.

Hisl mandatory buffer for some events even for the vaccinated, the debate is open. Many ministers and regional presidents are against, the most inclined towards the expansion to new categories of workers and places (parties, clubs and discos where there are risks of gathering, not cinemas and theaters, FFp2 masks for means of transport) of the enhanced green certification. The extreme decision is the imposition of the vaccination obligation as already decided in some countries. The government’s goal is to do everything so that economic activities do not have to close: no to lockdown.

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