Waiting employees and disappointed tourists: the premises at the Central Market are still closed due to uncleanliness.

The ATS raid found poor hygiene and cockroaches. Six stands are operational for the 17 fined; there is no reopening date.

Some people stop almost in disbelief to take photos and videos, and others believe the desolation is due to the "extraordinary maintenance work" announced by the signs posted everywhere. And while the customers who enter, still numerous, continue to crowd around the same few remaining options, the staff who until two days ago were busy cleaning every single inch of the shops seem to have disappeared, probably awaiting the intervention of specialized pest control technicians.

Two days after the blitz by the Milan ATS that closed most of the shops of the Central Market due to filth, poor sanitation, and a widespread cockroach infestation, in the food and wine hub next to the station, the air is one of suspension, given that there is still no date for the return to normal operation, mixed with the (extensive) Bleach used to disinfect the premises. Many tourists, after reaching the end of the facility's long corridor, head back toward the exit, dragging their suitcases, inevitably on an empty stomach, given the closure of most of the stands on the ground floor.

The ATS has given the green light to four businesses (opening as usual, on the first floor) and allowed six others to continue operating despite having identified critical issues. It has, however, lowered the shutters of 17 stands, which will be able to resume work only after the premises have been cleaned and sanitized. Easier said than done: while the extensive cleaning two days ago would have been a step toward compliant management of the "serious deficiencies in cleaning and maintenance" reported by ATS inspectors, the main hurdle is managing to combat the presence of cockroaches. Health technicians found them almost everywhere in the "building as a whole," both dead and alive, "including in storage rooms, changing rooms, and common areas of the facility."

This situation requires specialized pest control. Which, however, is not necessarily going to be an immediate solution, given that the type of insect found—the so-called "German cockroach"—would be particularly difficult to eradicate, as demonstrated by the various interventions already carried out on the structure (on average, every 15 days) without, however, managing to resolve the problem. Hence, the shops are still closed. Without, for now, a certain reopening date.

Link to the site: https://milano.repubblica.it/c...