Covid-19 e strutture residenziali nei servizi di salute mentale. Indicazioni per prevenire e limitare

The current outbreak of a new coronavirus infection (COVID-19), first in China and then all over the world, is having a strong impact on the mental health system (Torales et al., 2020). We might have expected these consequences due to the previous coronavirus infections experiences: after the SARS-CoV outbreak in Singapore and Taiwan in 2003 it was diagnosed an increase of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms among the emergency staff (Lee et al., 2018). In 2015, during the Korean MERS-CoV outbreak, it was reported a high level of stress, measured by specific blood indicators (Kim et al., 2019). In the recent SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in Wuhan (China), because of frustration, overwork and isolation of the health care providers, there has been an increase of psychiatric problems such as anxiety, depressive symptoms and insomnia (Kang et al., 2020). Special attention should be directed to vulnerable populations, as infected patients, individuals with preexisting medical conditions and health care providers. When crisis measures are taken, these segments of population should be taken into consideration because of the overload of stress they are tackling with (Purgato et al., 2018). In this general context, there are some particular situations that needed a careful management: it is the case of residential centers connected to mental health services. In these structures it is of particular importance to guarantee psychological support and also protection from infection. In this paper we'll indicate the measures token by health care providers and patients to maintain a healthy and safe environment during the lockdown step and suggestions for second riopening step.