A reader writes us, “For me, the health passport, it’s a crazy c….a!”

It is the topic of the moment, and we expected someone to make their voice heard on the phantom “health passport,” which Sardinia Region President Solinas would like to require from tourists. And thus also to those who, on the island, arrive by boat: such as the many Italian cruise passengers who, this summer, will favor sailing to domestic destinations. Andrea Kezich, Lombard owner of an old Dufour, is one of them. He has very definite ideas about the health passport, as the title states (recalled, in the opening photo, from Ugo Fantozzi’s famous speech about the Battleship Potemkin in “The Second, Tragic, Fantozzi”).

Here’s what he wrote to our editor Luca Oriani: let us know if you agree or disagree with a comment!

HEALTH PASSPORT? THE RECIPE FOR DRIVING TOURISTS AWAY

Egr. Dr. Oriani,
I take the liberty of writing to you, and I am grateful if you decide to give visibility to what I have to say, on the issue of the “health passport” or “certificate of negativity,” whatever you want to call it, that Mr. Solinas Christian, governor of Sardinia, wants to ask of tourists coming to the island.

And thus also to those who reach the Sardinian coast with a boat (owned or rented), as I (and so many other boaters) would like to do this summer (I’m a little tired of being in Milan, you understand). It is my understanding that a saliva test (but we are still in high gear here; there is no certification) or, more likely, the now famous serological test may be required to obtain a passport.

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And here dear Oriani comes the first problem: by itself, serology is not enough. I read up on it: the test certifies the presence of two types of antibodies. One, the IGM, if we have come in contact with Covid-19 in the past, another (IGG) if there is an ongoing infection. But what the serology does not tell us is whether the infection is actually caused by the coronavirus.

How to do it then? Should one test positive for any of the above-mentioned antibodies, one can only lift the doubt with a swab (indeed, mandatory in case of IGG positivity). And here comes the second problem: the swab ascertains my negativity at that very moment, and the results are communicated to me with biblical time. And in the meantime, while waiting for the verdict, I should be in quarantine. Other than boat, bays, seaside villages! Not to mention that no one assures me that I can contract the virus subsequent to the outcome of the swab.

Then there is talk of “free zones” in Sardinia in which to wait for test results, of speeding up the timetable on a regional basis, of Plan B. But let’s face it: after two tests and a quarantine my vacation would be pretty much ruined .

The health passport is a great recipe for driving tourism and charters away from Sardinia. As Fantozzi would say, a “crazy c….ta.” Let’s hope it is just a Sardinian headshot and Solinas’s initiative is not replicated elsewhere….

I am not a doctor, but the only solution, director, is Common Sense (capitalized): social distancing even in boats and ports, self-certification on health status, thermometer and lots and lots of individual responsibility. Very small sacrifices to enjoy our well-deserved boat cruises.

Andrea Kezich”

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