Spain is at low risk for coronavirus, the incidence of COVID-19 is around below 50 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. This situation is the first time it occurs since July 2020, that is, for the first time in 15 months. Despite the good situation, the epidemiologist Daniel López-Acuña, calls for caution in Morning News.
“It has been an excellent achievement to have managed to lower incidence and progress in vaccination, which places us at the forefront of vaccine coverage in the world and in Europe. We should not think that we have won the battle against the virus because it is still there and may give us surprises. We must keep our guard up so that it does not affect us in the way it has affected us. Certainly, with vaccination, it will be to a lesser degree, but we cannot think that the virus has been completely eradicated because we must bear in mind that low risk does not mean zero risk “, have been the words of the epidemiologist.
What should be of concern: new waves or new outbreaks of coronavirus?
At this time, with the lowest incidence, the concern should be new outbreaks and attention should be directed to detect them early and isolate positive people that may be contact of the sprouts. This means continuing to track and continue to do all the diagnostic tests on all the people who are close contacts of the cases that are detected in outbreaks. We still have outbreaks in both the social and school fields. The strategy is no longer the general and restrictive measures to the extent that we had them, but the ability to contain these outbreaks in a reinforced way. We should not think that we are totally exempt from a be that it would not be of the same severity because we have vaccination coverage, but let’s remember that there is still transmission “.
Are we close to taking our mask off indoors?
I don’t think we’re close yet. Those autonomous communities where the incidence is below 25, they can relax restrictive measures that have to do with capacity, hours, openings … Let us remember that contagion spaces are poorly guarded interiors. We have to keep monitoring the ventilation, the CO2 meters indoors, using the mask indoors and I must say outdoors. It is very positive because it not only reduces COVID-19 infections, but also seasonal flu that we are beginning to notice.
Are there more colds now?
We are facing a biological phenomenon where viruses try to occupy the space that they are generated. We have to be very careful not only with COVID-19, but also with other respiratory infections, especially against the seasonal flu. This implies that we have to vaccinate as much as we can against the flu and achieve the same coverage or greater than last year. The truth is that last year for the use of the mask, we had far fewer bouts of the flu. That is why I think that the last thing we should abandon is the use of the mask and not think that by reaching low risk figures we can deactivate its use.
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