The obscurantism with which the Ministry of Health carries out the process of selecting the provinces that can go to phase 1 of the “de-escalation”, by decision of a committee of experts whose identity is kept secret, raises the worst suspicions.
The Ministry of Health has announced this Friday that Navarra and La Rioja can go to phase 1 next Monday, despite the fact that in the last two weeks they have registered a higher rate of infections per inhabitant than the Community of Madrid, which will have to wait at least one more week to take the same step. A decision that can cost many thousands of jobs to the region chaired by the popular Isabel Díaz Ayuso.
According to the own Web page of the Ministry of Health, the Community of Madrid has registered in the last two weeks a total of 57.1 confirmed cases of coronavirus per 100,000 inhabitants. A more positive figure than that of Navarra, which has registered 64.9 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, and that of La Rioja, whose figure is 63.7.
Despite this, the Ministry of Health has given the green light for Navarra and La Rioja to go to phase 1 on Monday, while it has vetoed the proposal presented by the Community of Madrid to take the same step.
Two other regions, Catalonia and Castilla y León, also have worse data than Madrid. In the case of Catalonia, reaches a rate of 80.6 infections per 100,000 inhabitants, while Castilla y León reaches an even higher figure: 84.3. Despite this, Health has already allowed three health zones in Catalonia (Terres de l’Ebre, Camp de Tarragona and Alt Pirineu-Aran) and 26 in Castilla y León to pass to phase 1.
The statements made by Vice President Pablo Iglesias and the socialist spokesperson Adriana Lastra This Friday morning they highlight the political nature of the decision made by the Ministry of Health. Iglesias and Lastra have agreed to announce that Madrid is not in a position to go to phase 1, hours before the decision was made by the “committee of experts” whose identity insists on keeping the minister secret. Salvador Illa.
Madrid cannot go to Phase 1. We are protecting the health of Madrid residents. #ProtegemosMadrid
– Adriana Lastra (@Adrilastra) May 8, 2020
The government’s emergency health coordinator, Fernando Simón, insisted on Thursday that the identity of these experts should not be known, because otherwise they would be subjected to all kinds of pressure. The government of Pedro Sánchez thus violates the General Law of Public Health, whose article 11 establishes that “the composition of the committees or groups that evaluate actions or make public health recommendations will be public.”
Even more in a case like the current one, since the decision adopted by this committee not only affects the freedom of movement of thousands of Madrid residents, but it will also have a serious impact on the economy and employment in the region.
The Minister of Justice and Interior of the regional government of Madrid, Enrique López, stressed this Friday that the Community has more favorable data than Catalonia to go to phase 1: «Yesterday we had 8 ICU admissions compared to 58 in Catalonia48 dead compared to 77 in Catalonia, 145 new positives compared to 360 in Catalonia ».
In statements to Onda Cero, Enrique López has also pointed out that the decrease recorded in the number of infections has allowed the pressure on the ICUs to be released and the field hospital of Ifema to be dismantled. Currently there “582 ICUs occupied, when 1,500 were reached», While the region meets the ratio per inhabitant required by Health.
Despite all this, the Ministry of Health has confirmed the political announcement made in the morning by President Pablo Iglesias and socialist spokeswoman Adriana Lastra, who theoretically should not have any participation in this decision: Health punishes the people of Madrid and condemns their Regional government to knock on your door again within a week, to be able to go to phase 1.
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