The contagion curve is vertical: almost 75,000 positives in Italy, 5,700 only yesterday. Ilaria Capua, director of One Health Center of Excellence at the University of Florida, what should we expect?
«The right question is: how should we behave? We are witnessing a lively circulation of the virus, we have gone from 1,500 to over 5 thousand infections. It’s time to strengthen everyone’s commitment: the mask must always be worn, I always stress, except at home and in your car if you are alone. If you use car sharing it is better to wear it. The disinfectant should always be kept with you, washing your hands as often as possible with soap and water. The virus is carried by heavy droplets, which tend to drop rapidly. The interpersonal distance of two meters protects us, as the virus is unable to travel it ».
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How do you assess the situation in schools?
“In Italy we are fortunate to have opened them after other European countries and therefore with a certain awareness of what could happen. Viral circulation in schools exists, but it is not the cause ofexplosion of infections».
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The government is considering putting limits on gatherings on the premises and also at private parties.
«I find it right, even if the origin and health status of those present counts more than the number of people. I think that in this period, to give an example, it is not wise to have a wedding party with guests from half of Italy. Paradoxically, the gathering of a hundred inhabitants of a village would be less risky than a small group of individuals arriving from different areas. Obviously we must not give up getting married: we can have a smaller ceremony and postpone the event for a couple of years, when presumably we will be back to normalcy ».
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Is it possible to think about the closure of some Regions for the future?
«I would exclude this hypothesis, I believe that today more than ever we must rely on common sense that makes us survive, learn and grow. Too many rules die. The Covid problem will not be solved by politicians, but by individuals who feel part of a community ».
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Are we at risk from a health point of view?
“I have been living in the United States for four years and do not know the Italian situation in detail. Certainly, however, in the autumn of 2020 the hospitals are more prepared than they were in the winter of 2019. Then in March there was an incomprehensible situation in Lombardy, so much so that we wondered if a different virus was circulating. The answer is no, unfortunately there has been a convergence of negative factors in Lombardy and the health system has shown great fragility. Now weak people know that they must protect themselves, intensive care is half empty because those at risk stay at home, always wear a mask. Many ladies have changed their hair, to avoid going to the hairdresser every week to do the styling or color ».
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What is the thing that worries you the most?
«The so-called pandemic fatigue: occurs when patients, but also health facilities and political decision-makers lose energy, become immobilized. The antidote is to focus on the truly urgent and necessary issues and leave the rest a little lost. For example, As for tampons, procedures need to be streamlined, avoid queuing at the sampling points or people waiting days to get the report. As individuals we give priority to a few rules: move as little as possible and always with a mask, keep a distance of two meters, wash and disinfect your hands. With the union of these behaviors we are protected, a bit like the smallest matryoshka, enclosed within the others ».
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In your opinion, does it make sense to limit presence in clubs and nightlife?
«Yes, these are situations in which we tend to be without a mask and to speak loudly. Let’s remember that screaming and singing are the best ways to spread the virus. The nightlife must be reinvented, otherwise the virus will continue to circulate among young adults: some of them will reach the severe form of the infection. Furthermore, young people can infect relatives, friends and colleagues over the years. For a while, certain things cannot be done, we have to look for alternative, creative solutions. It can also be seen from the economic point of view: a patient in intensive care costs the health system about 100 thousand euros “.
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How do you assess the antibody cocktail with which the American president was treated?
«Trump recovered without difficulty, because he received a therapy that would have stopped a moving train (and which does not include hydroxychloroquine). The virus was blocked before it entered the bloodstream and could therefore colonize organs. Monoclonal antibodies are a sophisticated and precision version of plasma therapy: to give a warlike example we could think of a surface-to-air missile, compared to a somewhat botched army. Monoclonals will have a moment of great importance in biomedicine, but it is necessary to be able to lower the costs of these drugs. Also in Italy there are groups that study them, for example those of Rappuoli and Lanzavecchia ».
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In the United States there are, as in Italy, difficulties with the flu shot?
«No, I did it a month and a half ago, we all got vaccinated in the family. In the US it is free, indeed a supermarket chain gives a 10 dollar voucher to those who get immunized. In Italy, the problem is that historically there is little vaccine against the flu and therefore over the years there has not been a demand such as to have a sufficient market share. Public health operations must be done in the long term: if more people had been vaccinated in previous years, today we would have a lower economic impact on the health service (I am referring to those who have complications or aftermath of the flu) and greater availability of vaccines “.
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What can the pandemic teach us?
“I want to see the bright side of this catastrophe. The public health measures we have learned must not be forgotten and this must be a commitment of the scientific community: wash your hands, get vaccinated against the flu. We then have the opportunity to rethink some large systems in the name of sustainability: mobility, work, health. We will have to create more resilient living environments ».
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11 October 2020 (change October 11, 2020 | 07:41)
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