The PCP of Braga today demanded the carrying out of screening tests of the covid-19 to all the operational personnel of the local Sapadores Firefighters and the intensification of the disinfection and hygiene actions of the barracks.
In a statement, the PCP states that conducting tests only on the operational staff of a shift “not only contributes to the maintenance of an environment of uneasiness and fear, but also puts uninfected firefighters and the population to whom the corporation is at risk. to help and with whom you contact daily ”.
Contacted by Lusa, the President of the Chamber, Ricardo Rio, said that tests will not be carried out on all operational staff, because this “contradicts everything that is the recommendations of the Directorate-General for Health (DGS)”.
“Tests were carried out on the operational staff who were directly exposed to an eventual outbreak of contagion. The others must follow the recommendations of the DGS and, in case of any symptoms, all appropriate measures will be tested and taken ”, he added.
For Ricardo Rio, testing without any justification induces a “feeling of false security”.
The mayor recalled that those operational, due to their activity, are “at the forefront” of fighting the pandemic and, as such, subject to contagion that can happen “at any moment”.
In the communiqué, the PCP also says that it is “fundamental” to intensify the disinfection and hygiene actions of the barracks, equipment and vehicles, “without this implying a greater overload for the firefighters”.
Ricardo Rio replied that this was already a recurring “practice”, even before the first case of infection appeared in the corporation.
On Thursday, the Mayor of Braga, Ricardo Rio, told Lusa that 16 firefighters from Braga de Sapadores were positive in the covid-19 screening tests and are at home in isolation, with the overwhelming majority not presenting “ great symptoms ”.
Rio said that the first positive case was confirmed on Sunday, with the remaining firefighters who were part of that shift soon being quarantined.
However, tests were carried out throughout the shift, with 16 firefighters accused positive and seven negative, with two still inconclusive cases.
The infected were involved in fighting a fire registered on March 25 in the psychiatric ward of Hospital de Braga, but the mayor considers that it is not possible to associate one situation with another.
The new coronavirus, responsible for the covid-19 pandemic, has already infected more than one million people worldwide, of whom nearly 54,000 died.
Of the cases of infection, about 200,000 are considered cured.
In Portugal, according to the balance made today by the Directorate-General for Health, there were 246 deaths, 37 more than the day before (+ 17.7%), and 9,886 cases of confirmed infections, which represents an increase of 852 in compared to Thursday (+ 9.4%).
Of those infected, 1,058 are hospitalized, 245 of whom are in intensive care units, and there are 68 patients who have recovered.
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