Managing the pandemic in the reception system for migrants: the Italian experience

Abstract

Abstract Issue Italy represents a well-known European transit and destination country for Migrants and Refugees (M&Rs) with more than 77.000 migrants currently hosted in the reception system. Pandemic did not impact the M&Rs' influx with more than 30.000 disembarked in 2020. In line with the WHO and international organizations alerts to protect the health of M&Rs, Italy included M&Rs in its pandemic response. Description of the practice With the mandate of the Ministry of Health and thanks to the collaboration with the Ministry of the Interior and other institutional and governmental bodies, the Italian National Institute for Health, Migration and Poverty developed a comprehensive strategy to protect M&Rs' health in Italy during the COVID-19 pandemic, either into the reception system and outside. Results Interim evidence - based operating procedures including instructions regarding the early detection and the management of potential suspected and confirmed COVID-19 cases, from the first arrival throughout the entire reception system path, have been published. A national survey on the incidence of COVID-19 cases in the reception system has been performed in 2020. Dedicated information flows on the incidence of COVID-19 cases at the arrival in Italy and in the reception system and a periodic monitoring of the implementation of the afore-mentioned operating procedures have been established in 2021. Data collected have shown a daily mean incidence ratio lower for migrants hosted in the reception system than for the general population, as well as the same regarding the new COVID-19 cases among newly arrived migrants. Lessons The strategy adopted was found to be effective in protecting M&Rs' health during the pandemic. In particular, the Italian reception system has globally shown a good performance in limiting the COVID-19 spread. Moreover, the influx of newly arrived migrants did not represent an additional epidemiological risk in terms of burden of infection. Key messages The production of evidence-based procedures and the establishment of effective information flows have proved to be effective in managing and monitoring the pandemic in regards to M&Rs. The Italian reception system has turned to play as a protective factor in limiting the COVID-19 spread and the systematic screening of newly arrived M&Rs did not shown an additional COVID-19 burden.