The Community of Madrid will request “today” again the Government to go to phase 1 of the de-escalation, considering that the requirements for this are met “with all guarantees”, and has asked the Ministry to trust the regions, because Those who have borne the burden of this healthcare crisis will not make decisions “against the health of citizens.”
This has been ensured by the Minister of Health, Enrique Ruiz Escudero, in two interviews in Onda Madrid and Telecinco, in which he explained that as an example of the measures that are going to be taken to comply with the Ministry’s demands, it is increasing, starting this Monday, from 11,000 to 15,000 the PCR tests that are carried out to detect new infections, reinforce primary care with 685 more people (health and non-health personnel) and hire about 400 people for the network of public health technicians who are to be in charge of carrying out the survey and epidemiological follow-up to diagnose COVID-19.
Madrid does meet, said the counselor, other requirements such as the number of hospital beds and ICU beds necessary to attend a possible outbreak of the disease, and as an example explained that the Ministry requires the region to have between 1.5 and 2 ICU beds for every 10,000 inhabitants (representing 1,470 beds for Madrid), and at the peak of contagion, 1,420 ICU beds of the 1,900 that came into operation at the same time were occupied throughout the Community.
The decrease in new cases and medical discharges also continues, figures “very favorable” because they are decreasing “steadily.”
Ruiz Escudero has insisted that despite Madrid being the region hardest hit by COVID-19, its healthcare system has withstood the challenge and is prepared to guarantee assistance to all patients and to face a possible rebound, and for That, despite initial doubts, once all the parameters had been studied in depth, the regional government was of the opinion that it could go to phase 1.
In this sense, he said he does not understand why the central government has authorized to pass to phase 1 other regions with worse data on infections than Madrid, because “when one analyzes the data” it is “difficult to understand” the criteria they have used to to authorize or not the advance.
“The Ministry must have more confidence in those of us who have borne the brunt of the crisis, and know that we are not going to make any decision against the health of citizens,” he added, because although it is difficult to “combine the equation »of health and economy, Madrid is clear that it is necessary to act« always with health ahead ».
Regarding the criticism of health professionals for the fact that Madrid is going to distribute KN95 masks with a degree of protection FFP2 among its population (which filter at least 92 percent of the particles present in the air), the counselor has said not understanding why they oppose the protection of citizens, taking into account that health personnel also have this same degree of protection.
“I was surprised by the commotion that has been created by trying to protect the population as much as possible. It is curious, I would have expected such virulence at other times, such as when the Government of Spain did not give us masks, or when they gave them defective, “he pointed out.
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