Covid: tampons, local health authorities and percentage. Journey into the new protocol

Here we are. A longed-for peace is looming between the world of sport and ASL for the management of positive cases from Covid. The protocol was given the go-ahead by the State-Regions conference, before becoming circular of the Ministry of Health it will take the green light of the CTS. But there is optimism. The symbol number of this agreement is 35. The games can be played if the number of positives does not exceed 35 percent of the “athlete group”. In short, in a football team the limit is set on the frontier of nine players because the lists of 25 will be taken into consideration. Exceeding the threshold, says the approved text, it is necessary to “provide for the entire Team Group to be blocked”.

All happy

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The federations will set this threshold, it is clear that in basketball it will be lower, while volleyball has an advantage because the poker rule is already in force here, with four positives in a team it is postponed. “The championships go on,” says Mariastella Gelmini, Minister for Regional Affairs who took the initiative to launch the decisive summit. Valentina Vezzali, the Undersecretary for Sport, also rejoices for “an important result achieved by listening to the needs of the world of sport, through the federations concerned”. Gabriele Gravina, protagonist of the latest mediation with Vezzali herself and the health minister Roberto Speranza, hopes that the CTS will say yes. In the meantime, there is “a lot of satisfaction” on the part of the president of the Football Association. He adds: “Football needs dialogue, clear rules and accountability and the protocol is born on these foundations.” Gianni Petrucci, president of basketball also gave a positive opinion: “The biggest obstacles have been overcome”.

More tampons

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In the long itinerary between one table and another, the protocol was modified and strengthened. In the text, however, there are also other measures that will change the management of positive cases. “Soft” quarantine (the one that allowed football to restart in June 2020) and “soft” quarantine (the recent circular that provides for “self-monitoring” for close contact with the positive without stopping it) have been combined in a more stringent way . In particular, in the case of a contagion in the team, “high risk contacts” will have to carry out an antigenic swab every day for at least five days with the obligation to wear FFP2 masks in all non-sporting contexts. The federal protocol will change: in the condition of “high-risk contact” there is no difference based on the vaccination condition, the five days of swabs will apply to everyone. For “low-risk contacts”, who come into contact with the players and the rest of the team group on a non-continuous basis, the measures envisaged by the ministerial indications for all will be observed.

The compromise

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The agreement is a point of balance that has a double value. On the one hand, football and sport everything, even basketball with the president of the League, Umberto Gandini, had insisted on this, asking as much as possible “uniformity” between one ASL and another, to avoid a disparity that made the championship days a kind of lottery. The result was achieved. On the other hand, the Ministry of Health has raised the level of controls and monitoring. Ok, we give you the certainties you ask for, but it takes a squeeze because stopping the wave of infections is a goal that serves the country in general, but also its activities, including football and sports.

For everyone

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There is another point to underline: the circular protocol will not only apply to top activities, but to all championships. And here there is a certain concern, expressed by Giuseppe Manfredi, the president of Federvolley: “The positive fact is that with this agreement the blocking of championships is avoided. Thinking, however, of the basic activity, we are very concerned about the possibility of application”. The reference is to the 5 swabs in 5 days provided for “high risk contacts”. It is necessary to see to what level the players of a team will be considered “high risk” and when at “low” (for example, it comes to mind, in sports where you do not train daily). In any case, Vezzali has promised refreshments for the companies that will face the new healthcare costs.

And who comes from abroad?

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Solved one case, another opens up. It has actually been open for a while already. The Draghi government must decide a line on teams and sportsmen who come to Italy from abroad to participate in an international event. For now the rules say: they can enter with tampons, play, but not use public transport, sleep in a hotel, eat in a restaurant, if they do not have the super green pass (that is, if they are not vaccinated or cured of Covid). There will be exceptions, but of course they will not affect everything and everyone. The important thing, however, is to answer the question as soon as possible.