The Fanpage.it interview with Fabrizio Pregliasco, virologist of the University of Milan, on the occasion of the national day in memory of the victims of the Coronavirus epidemic: “The Covid which will begin to mix with the other viruses that act as a corollary to the flu and WHO will declare the end of the pandemic. Could the dead have been avoided? Difficult to say, we were afraid and we had no knowledge”.
Interview with Dr Fabrizio Pregliasco
virologist and Health Director of the IRCCS Galeazzi Orthopedic Institute and Associate Professor of General and Applied Hygiene at the University of Milan.
Turn on notifications to receive updates on
“It is likely that the World Health Organization will soon declare the end of the pandemic, with Covid starting to mix with the other Coronaviruses that are a corollary to the flu. Could the deaths of Bergamo have been avoided? Hard to say, in those moments out of fear we had no diagnostic tests or basic knowledge of the virus.”
Talking is Fabrizio Pregliasco, virologist and Health Director of the IRCCS Galeazzi Orthopedic Institute and Associate Professor of General and Applied Hygiene at the University of Milan, who Fanpage.it took stock of the Covid situation in Italy on the day in which the National day in memory of the victims of the epidemic of Coronavirus, formally established on March 17, 2021. The date chosen – on March 18precisely – is the one in which in 2020 military trucks loaded with coffins paraded through the streets of Bergamo.
Dr. Pregliasco, 3 years after those tragic moments that we all remember, what is the Covid situation in Italy?
Covid bulletin today, the data on infections and deaths in Italy on Thursday 16 March region by region
“The heavy effect of the spread of Covid and the concept of pandemic are slowly wearing out. There is still no formal decision, probably the World Health Organization will soon declare the pandemic over. This does not mean that we will have zero cases Indeed, it is clear that this virus will stay with us”.
What should we expect in the coming weeks and months?
“The hope is that there will be waves that, unless a new, more aggressive variant arrives, will be like those of a stone in a pond. Thus Covid will dilute itself in the set of respiratory infections, it will begin to mix with the other Coronaviruses which act as a corollary to the flu. I believe this will be the future, with all risk margins. What will remain problematic for us will be those 10-20% of subjects who have Long Covid, even among pediatric cases. It is a legacy that we will drag on in quantitative terms”.
So, will we have a peaceful Easter from the point of view of contagion?
“The epidemiological situation is more or less stable compared to the last few months, even if with an increase in hospitalizations also because the parameter of tampons is less and less indicative. The objective data are unfortunately the hospitalizations and deaths which unfortunately still exist”.
Speaking of deaths, Italy is one of the countries with the highest mortality rates in the world…
“It is never easy to make comparisons between countries because the data collection systems are not standardized and we also have to see mortality in terms of age groups. In Italy, fortunately for us, we have a higher life expectancy than in other countries and a proportion of the elderly that goes over 23% of the population.Among other reasons, there is also the fact that we were among the first to be overwhelmed by the virus which literally wiped out many fragile people quickly, who would have had hope not long-lived but which have been overwhelmed”.
There has also recently been an investigation by the judiciary into the initial moments of the pandemic. Do you actually believe that those deaths could have been avoided?
“We have not seen Crisanti’s study because it is an expert report and not a scientific article. Only conclusive elements emerged and this hypothesis of a possible saving of lives. It is a mathematical model and the mathematical models have natural margins of inaccuracy. Presumably this speech is also perhaps real, but in those moments of fear and lack of knowledge we did not have diagnostic tests and we did not know the specific characteristics of the virus, in particular the most perfidious one which is that of determining a large number of asymptomatic cases in subjects who are contagious. This fooled us. Decisions in moments of crisis like this are difficult because they are implemented in the absence of information, little scientific certainty and with an enormous weight of political responsibility. I think it was much more brutal Boris Johnson who had the elderly killed so that Inghilettra could have less effects on the psychological and economic aspect.It was a choice terrible that must be judged directly by the citizens”.
The information provided on www.fanpage.it is designed to complement, not replace, the relationship between a patient and their doctor.
