All smoke and no fire. First the medical self-certification, then the health passport and, finally, a simple registration. The question of holidays in Sardinia has been at the center of intense debate in recent weeks, where the Governor center-right Christian Solinas he changed his mind several times, until he capitulated to the obvious.
"We invite all tourists to book, because Sardinia wants to welcome them with open arms", so the center-right president of Sardinia began a few days ago on the debate on the reopening between the regions. But if words have weight, actions matter even more. And everything that has been said by the governor in recent days has not seemed in keeping with the true interests of his fellow citizens, given that Sardinia thrives on tourism. But it has only generated panic and damage for the whole sector and for the whole island, to the advantage of other areas that have not raised all this fuss.
And as much as we want to protect the health of the Sardinian population through stringent conditions for "foreigners", the ones who will pay the price in the end would be the entrepreneurs, employees and the entire Sardinian tourism chain, which without tourists have little hope of surviving.
As regards the question of the mandatory serological test, adopted by most of the European islands (Canary Islands, Cyprus, Malta and the Greek Islands), it would not have given any greater security, given that even the Ministry of Health dismantles its reliability, not having no diagnostic value.
First, the serological test looks for antibodies to understand if a person has already been infected with Covid, but not if the infection is ongoing. A negative test can have several meanings: a person has not been infected, or has been infected within 8-10 days prior to the test but has not yet developed the antibody response to the virus. In any case, it does not mean that you are immune to the virus or, worse, that it is not yet in circulation.
For this reason, serological tests they cannot replace the nasopharyngeal or throat swab, on the contrary, subjected to a molecular test capable of confirming the current infection. Another problem: for the bathroom fixtures it's free, everyone else has to pay.
But even if they were reliable and free, considering the time required to undergo a test, wait for an answer and receive your health card, the whole process would make the procedure even more useless.
After all the controversies of the last few days, especially between Solinas and the mayor of Milan, Giuseppe SalaFinally, a conclusion has been reached. No self-certification or mandatory swab for tourists who want to spend their holidays in Sardinia. All you need to do is register on the institutional website platform or through the regional app "Safe Sardinia".
A mandatory and non-voluntary registration, through a model that can be downloaded from the institutional site of the Sardinia Region and sent electronically by following the instructions on the home page, or through the app “Safe Sardinia“, available for Android and iOS operating systems. Each passenger must present a copy of the registration together with the boarding pass and an identity document. The data will be retained for two weeks and used to monitor data subjects.
Those who voluntarily submit to the test by exhibiting the certificate of negativity produced by an authorized laboratory upon arrival will be entitled to a bonus-voucher, which can be spent throughout the region.
However, thehe doors to the island will reopen, but in stages and not from 3 June as for the rest of the country.
Until the 12 June Sardinia opens three Sardinian airports: Olbia, Cagliari and Alghero for flights in territorial continuity with Rome and Milan. Furthermore, it will be possible to fill in the form on board and deliver it upon arrival to the medical health center of the port or airport, which will take care of providing it to the competent regional offices.
From the 13 June air connections with all national airports will be restored and finally, epidemiological curve trend permitting, from the 25 June international routes will also open.
Much ado about nothing and in the end President Solinas had to take a step back. However, we still need to see the effects of his confused and baseless statements on summer 2020, given the complaints from the tourism sector due to the numerous cancellations in recent days.
A country that has found itself facing a war against an invisible, lethal enemy with few weapons. We are in a delicate phase of recovery where we should give the image of a united Italy and not split by unnecessary prejudices and controversies. Who knows if the leader of the League, Matteo Salvini, has regretted having supported Solinas, president of the Sardinian Action Party, at the helm of the island. Between Solinas in Sardinia and Fontana in Lombardy they have done enough damage.
