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21 February 2020The 38-year-old coronavirus positive and hospitalized in intensive care at Codogno hospital "is the first case of contagion in Italy" and therefore "it is necessary to understand if we are facing a small outbreak. An accurate epidemiological investigation is necessary" . Walter Ricciardi, professor of hygiene and preventive medicine at the Catholic University of Rome and representative of Italy on the Executive Board of the World Health Organization, said this to the Adnkronos Salute. The professor then adds: "We need clearer and more precise indications from the Ministry of Health at the ASL on quarantine".Ricciardi points out: "It is not good news, it is the first case of secondary infection generated in our country. It is probable - observes the expert - that someone coming from China transmitted the virus to him. A mechanism was therefore set in motion of generation of secondary cases that we hoped would not arrive, but we expected it ".
According to Ricciardi, the behavior of the Lombardy Region is appreciable: "the Region has launched an accurate epidemiological investigation to identify all the people who came into contact with the patient and verify their positivity or negativity to the nCoV-2019 virus, with the aim of blocking any contagion. I repeat, however, that this is not good news and that the emergency will not be resolved in the coming weeks, it will last for months ".
As for the data relating to the number of infected and coronavirus victims in China and other non-European countries Ricciardi believes that they are "largely underestimated" while the figures released by European countries "are true".