Nose-pharyngeal swabs as a screening test for SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients with scheduled elective surgery: the experience of the Hygiene Service of the Local Health Authority Roma 1.

Proactive case investigation and contact tracing, testing, home isolation, in parallel with systematic home care for patients with mild symptoms have served as cornerstones of a territorial response strategy, where an established network of public health and primary care services existed. The Italian National Health Service (NHS) entrusts many management competences to the Regions, with the result of a different management of the Covid-19 epidemic between the Regions and sometimes even among the Local Health Authorities (LHAs - in Italian: Aziende Sanitarie Locali). In Italy, the Department of Prevention (DP) plays a pivotal role in structuring the collaboration between territorial health services, hospitals and all the network of the NHS. DP is the technical structure of LHA, with the task of promoting health, preventing the onset of disease and improving the quality of life of the population. The Covid-19 pandemic has had a considerable impact on the DPs, which have necessarily had to reorganize their services in a very short time in order to provide an appropriate response to the renewed health concerns.