The Minister of Health, Jesús Vázquez Almuíña, considers that Galicia has already entered the phase of “flattening the curve” with “very few new cases, the majority mild, that may be at home”, but that “does not keep us from being alert” before the possibility of a “second wave” of infections.
In an interview on Cadena SER, Almuíña saw “logical and reasonable” to think that “in the next few days the number of cases may begin to decline.” However, he warned of “higher risk of regrowth” in Galicia, where “a significant part of the population is not yet immunized”, contrary to what happens in other communities, “such as Madrid, where the impact was greater.”
The proposal of the councilor to avoid this is “to seek an early and outpatient diagnosis” and “isolate both the patient and his most intimate contacts.” “If we do so, we will achieve a clear containment”, despite the fact that from tomorrow, with the return to work of non-essential activities, “population circulation” also increases.
Protection measures include the use of masks, which for Almuíña is “a barrier method that complements” to the essential, maintain the safety distance, and “substitutes” when, for work reasons, it cannot be fulfilled.
THE RETURN OF THE OLDER CURED
Almuíña affirms that there is “no difference” between public and private nursing homes for the elderly, “as there are not between hospitals” because the Xunta “coordinates all the facilities.” The intervention is carried out when the centers “do not comply with the protocols and there are deficiencies”; in others, it is simply “tutela.” He insists that the number of residences with positive cases is “reduced” – “most of them lead normal lives” – and points out that their situation is “an absolute priority because part of the most sensitive population is there.” For this reason, he assures that 10,000 PCR tests have been carried out in them, a quarter of those that have been carried out throughout Galicia, and that they have reached “half of the users and workers”.
Asked about the situation of the Domus VI residence network, where high numbers of deaths and infections have been registered, he replied that they are “things that will have to be studied” since “the first thing is to give assistance”. “I do not think it is a matter of a specific company, there are parameters that influence”, such as the advanced age of the users, their reduced mobility, the closed spaces and the few symptoms that they may present “from taking other drugs.”
The head of Sanidade defended the return of the elderly who overcame covid-19 to their residence of origin, “the logical thing, when they are cured and are immunized.” “Now they are not only healthy people, without having a defense against this virus”. He clarifies that this is decided “case by case and if possible” and remember that in residences with several floors separate floors are organized for positives and negatives. ..
The termination of the contract for a nurse on sick leave due to coronavirus “was an error in a health area for which they have already apologized”According to the councilor, who affirms that there is “an instruction from Sergas so that this does not happen until the recovery period is reached”, both “in areas that deal with covid-19 and in any other”. He insisted that his department has been betting “for a long time” on “stability contracts for nurses and doctors” with a duration “of one year extendable up to three”, in addition to something “new, which only the Xunta does”: extend one year plus the contracts of the 358 residents.
Almuíña believes that “due to this flattening of the curve” field hospitals “it seems that they will not be necessary” but, even so, “we are not going to dismantle them”. “We are going to wait a few days to be prepared in case at some point, in the next few weeks or months, there could be a regrowth.” This second wave “would catch us with the training of the workers, the improvement of the facilities and these alternative spaces to increase the sanitary capacity if necessary.”
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