It very much is. When you are limited in every way you have make some cuts. This is just the cut that says that it is probably covid if it is not flu and they are from an area with test confirmed cases. And in by far most cases it is going to be correct. Probably as correct as the current test for covid.
So 200,000+ people under mandatory lockdown went to a clinic (not a drive through test, a physical clinic), lined up and waited to get tested for Influenza which was assumed to be SARS-Cov2?
Or maybe Italy tested 200,000+ samples with RT-PCR technology with machines and labs and tests / swabs they don’t have?
Not trying at all to spin conspiracy theories here but these numbers simply do not add up.
As a corollary: there are a myriad of infections that can present as fever and cough: rhinoviruses, influenza, bronchial infections, gastroenteritis, auto immune flare ups, sinusitis and season allergies, the list goes on.
They can just test for Covid-19 antibodies. It's not really reliable, but it is much faster than the genetic tests and should quickly discriminate between Covid and the common flu.
Italians are triaging, so they have to quickly sort the cases. They have to sacrifice precision and allow for some false positives.
This is very much a game of assumptions and a game of cutting corners at this point. It's wartime. The hospitals near me are literally using pieces of cotton, cut shirts, hand-sewn layers, instead of regulation-required certified N95 masks.
