How the health services of Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy and Veneto handled the Covid-19 emergency

ABSTRACT

The article analyses how the regional health serevices of Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy and Veneto handled the Coronavirus emergency in the initial months of 2020. For each region, it is identified who was in charge, what role was attributed to experts, what emergency structures were set up.

Particular attention is paid to the ways in which the regions interacted with the national government, the ability to frame the problem, the promptness with which certain policy measures were adopted, the ability to use the knowledge at their disposal.

Lombardy is charged with a series of errors, largely due to having passively followed some directives issued by the national government. Veneto, going against some national indications, showed readiness in making decisions and bricolage skills. Emilia-Romagna, after an initial hesitation, showed the ability to reorganize itself, and to learn from mistakes.

KEYWORDS:

• Covid-19
• crisis management
• preparedness
• decision making
• qualitative
• Italian regions

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. These three regions, together, account for 32% of the Italian population. As of 26 April 2020, the three combined ccounted for 58% of the confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Italy and 68% of the Covid-related deaths. Cfr. Ministry of Health data, ‘Covid-19 Situazione in Italia’, available at http://www.salute.gov.it/portale/nuovocoronavirus/dettaglioContenutiNuovoCoronavirus.jsp?area=nuovoCoronavirus&id=5351&lingua=italiano&menu=vuoto.

2. ‘Zaia e Bonaccini i governatori più apprezzati, sondaggio’, www.ansa.it, 30 November 2019.

3. See the web site of the Federazione nazionale degli ordini dei medici chirurghi e degli odontoiatri Lombardia (National federation of doctors’ surgeons’ and dentists’ associations, Lombard branch, Fnomceo), ‘Lettera indirizzata ai vertici della sanità lombarda’, available at https://portale.fnomceo.it

4. Roberto Formigoni was president of the Lombardy region from 1995 to 2013.

5. Cassese is a well-known professor of administrative law and former judge of the Italian Constitutional Court.

6. P. Colaprico, ‘Fontana: «Non abbiamo fatto errori e tenerci chiusi non sarà necessario»’, la Repubblica, 22 May 2020.

7. See ‘Coronavirus, Conte: «Un focolaio si è diffuso perché un ospedale non ha seguito i protocolli»’, available at https://www.rainews.it, 25 February 2020.

8. See ‘Fontana «Regione Lombardia non ha fatto errori»’, www.adnkronos.com, 23 May 2020.

9. See: Consiglio superiore di sanità (Italian National Institute of Health), ‘Documento relativo ai criteri per sottoporre soggetti clinicamente asintomatici alla ricerca d’infezione da SARS-CoV-2 attraverso tampone rino-faringeo e test diagnostico’, 26 February 2020; Ministry of Health, ‘Covid-19. Aggiornamento della definizione di caso’, 9 March 2020.

10. ‘Fontana: Errori? Noi seguito protocolli’, www.ansa.it., 13 April 2020.

11. ‘Come ha fatto il Veneto’, www.ilpost.it, 16 April 2020.

12. ‘Crisanti smentisce Zaia: «Il modello Veneto è merito dell’Università di Padova»’, www.padovaoggi.it., 15 September 2020.

13. E. Burba, ‘Perché in Veneto non c’è carenza di reagenti’, Panorama, 14 May 2020.

14. ‘Come ha fatto il Veneto’, cit.

15. M. De Bac, ‘Coronavirus in Italia, Ricciardi: «Uso sbagliato dei tamponi. Possibile che i casi positivi siano stati sovrastimati»’, Corriere della Sera, 27 February 2020.

16. A. Pasqualetto, ‘Coronavirus, Crisanti: «Così ho violato le regole sui tamponi e ho fatto bene»’, Corriere della Sera, 1 June 2020.

17. ‘Bonaccini: «L’Emilia-Romagna sta reggendo, ma ora nuova fase di contrasto al coronavirus»’, la Repubblica, 27 March 2020.

18. Prof. Pierluigi Viale, speech given to a session of the ‘Corso di formazione manageriale per dirigenti di struttura complessa dell’Azienda ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna’, 29 October 2020.

19. ‘Coronavirus, l’infettivologo Viale: «Andiamo a prendere i malati a casa per scovare chi ha il Covid19»’, il Messaggero, 14 April 2020.

20. As part of efforts to deal with the pandemic, the regions were asked to establish the Unità speciali di continuità assistenziale (Usca), in order to provide home care for Covid-19 patients who had not been admitted to hospital.

21. See ‘Coronavirus, gli aggiornamenti della Regione Emilia-Romagna’, available at www.ausl.bologna.it/news/archivio-2020/auslnews.2020-02-23.7803066666

22. ‘Coronavirus in Emilia-Romagna: 4.000 casi (+478) e altri 50 morti. Bonaccini: «Faremo molti più tamponi»’, la Rebubblica, 17 March 2020.

23. See ‘Coronavirus, gli aggiornamenti della Regione Emilia-Romagna’, available at www.ausl.bologna.it/news/archivio-2020/auslnews.2020-03-18.0891027937