Coronavirus: Rezza, will the virus die in June? I do not believe

"If there are esteemed colleagues who have foresight, fine. If he dies in June we will have a big party." So Giovanni Rezza, director of the infectious diseases department of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS), during the transmission Agorà, on Rai Tre, replied comments the statements of colleagues who predict that the virus will be dead in June.

"I too would like it to disappear but I don't think this dream can come true very soon. We must therefore double, triple our efforts to stem its spread". The mood on the first day of Phase 2, he summarizes, is of "concern". "If on the one hand there is a need to reopen the country, we also see that this virus is still circulating." "Citizens, therefore, - adds Rezza - must have responsible behavior: distancing, washing hands, masks in public places. On the other hand, public health must be ready to intercept at a territorial level a possible return to the field of the virus".

The director then announced that the study with the antibodies present in the plasma of the healed patients experimentally used against Covid in some hospitals, such as in Mantua, "is apparently giving promising results", "we look forward to scientific proofs of efficacy with hope and hope ". 

Plasma therapy, he explained, is a method that "has been practiced for some time, with mixed success, has also been used for Ebola. But it is not a very simple one: you have to find donors, who have overcome the disease and are convalescent, because they have many antibodies ". "It can hardly be practiced on a very large scale because it takes time, but it can give rise to other forms of treatment, such as monoclonal antibodies. Because the antibodies that protect in plasma therapy can be produced in the laboratory, giving fewer side effects and making it possible to use on large scale".

"To avoid a second lockdown that would be a disaster for the country - added Rezza - we must maintain responsible behavior and act promptly in containing the outbreaks in the territory. Living with the virus also means continuing to fight it".

The increase in intensive care was "a necessary act, but the fact of having more now does not mean that we have to fill them. Germany, which has many more than we do, but makes sure that people do not get there. a great job on the territory ", that is" identifying cases, tracing contacts, testing them also asymptomatic ".

Compared to regional diversity in reopenings: "A national provision is needed" but "adaptations at regional levels of a national provision are the right thing" and there have always been "in this country".