Guidance on positive cases

GUIDANCE ON POSITIVE COVID-19 TEST CASES (APPLICABLE TO SCHOOLS AND ALL OTHER WORK OR PROFESSIONAL ENVIRONMENTS) 

The emergency ended in March 2022, but the Ministry of Health has failed to notice.

The management of positive cases is governed by a circular dated 31/12/2022, which can be consulted HERE. Added to this is a “vademecum” from the Ministry of Education, which can be downloaded HERE.

The first recommendation is to NEVER take a swab test. It is a medical treatment that can only be mandated by statute. To date, there is no statute providing for mandatory swab testing; therefore, anyone asking or recommending that we take a swab test must be met with a refusal. The farce was sustained, and continues to be sustained, by swab tests, so it is essential not to take them.

What is the legal status of an administrative circular? 

A circular has no legal force and the Minister does not have the power to compel individuals to adopt specific conduct (isolation, mask-wearing, taking tests). Failure to comply with a circular carries no sanctions and no legal consequences whatsoever. Consequently, there is no obligation to follow the “rules” of a ministerial circular.

The Ministry of Education's vademecum carries even less weight and creates no binding obligation on teachers, parents or pupils.

For those who may have returned a positive swab test, the regime suggested by the circular—which is non-binding—is as follows: 

POSITIVE TEST - ISOLATION: 

• isolation for 5 days for asymptomatic individuals or for those who have been symptom-free for at least 2 days; in this case, it is not necessary to take a follow-up swab test to confirm a negative result, 
• individuals who have remained asymptomatic throughout may end isolation even before the 5 days have elapsed if they take a test with a negative result,
• for immunocompromised individuals, isolation ends after 5 days, but a negative test is required to exit isolation, 
• healthcare workers may end isolation if they have been asymptomatic for at least 2 days and following a negative swab test result, 
• individuals arriving from China in the 7 days prior to a positive test may end isolation after a minimum period of 5 days from the first positive test, provided they have been asymptomatic for at least 2 days and test negative on an antigen or molecular test.

FFP2 MASKS AT THE END OF ISOLATION: 

• once isolation ends, the use of FFP2 respiratory protective devices is mandatory until the 10th day following the onset of symptoms or the first positive test (in asymptomatic cases). The obligation ceases in the event of a negative test. Therefore, anyone who has exited isolation having obtained a negative test is not subject to the obligation to wear an FFP2 mask for ten days. The circular does not specify this, but the requirement should apply only to indoor spaces or crowded gatherings.

CLOSE CONTACTS WITH CONFIRMED POSITIVE CASES: 

• anyone who has had close contact with individuals confirmed positive for SARS-CoV-2 is subject to the self-surveillance regime: it is mandatory to wear FFP2 respiratory protective devices indoors or in the presence of gatherings until the fifth day following the date of the last close contact, 
• if symptoms suggestive of possible SARS-CoV-2 infection develop during the self-surveillance period, taking an immediate antigen or molecular test for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 is recommended, but not mandatory,
• healthcare workers must take an antigen or molecular test on a daily basis until the fifth day from the last contact with a confirmed case.

ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS OF THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION VADEMECUM

In addition to the provisions of the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education's “vademecum” provides for further measures, which obviously lack any binding effect. We summarise them here.

1. Pupils with mild respiratory symptoms (runny nose) may attend lessons wearing an FFP2 mask.
2. Suspected cases (fever, cough, vomiting, diarrhoea, loss of taste and smell) are to be isolated in a dedicated room, and the school will notify the parents. In this case, it is essential not to perform any swab test and to manage any illness as has always been done (consultation with a doctor and a medical certificate to return to school).
3. Confirmed cases: the vademecum requires a negative swab test to return to school, but this is superseded by the circular of 31/12/2022 (see above).
4. No measures are envisaged for close contacts of confirmed cases.

CONCLUSION AND PRACTICAL ADVICE

Those who do not take a swab test cannot encounter any problems, even if they have symptoms compatible with Covid-19. They cannot be compelled either into isolation or to wear an FFP2 mask, and will manage any illness as normal. Needless to say, anyone who is asymptomatic—that is, healthy—has no reason whatever to undergo a swab test.

The issue arises for those who have had close contact with individuals who have tested positive, a situation that may well occur in a work environment (in schools, the vademecum does not provide for particular precautions). The important thing in this scenario is to refuse to comply with the provisions of the circular (wearing an FFP2 mask for up to 5 days from the last contact, and daily testing for 5 days for healthcare workers only), pointing out that an administrative circular (and all the more so a vademecum) is not a source of law and cannot impose any legal obligation. When faced with the usual virus zealots, let us ask them calmly and politely to point out the statute that imposes these obligations, and let us remind them that a circular does not have the force or effect of law, but merely represents opinions or recommendations that no one is under any obligation to follow.

Guidance on positive Covid-19 test cases (applicable to schools and all other work or professional environments)