Covid forgetfulness

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What’s most disturbing about an exhaustive assessment of global management of the pandemic, published in “The Lancet,” is not how badly it’s done, but in the sense that we haven’t learned from our mistakes, as we move forward without plans to anticipate on the challenges that new variants of the virus can still bring us

Devastating is the report presented this week by 28 experts from a committee that analyzed the global fight against the pandemic for the prestigious journal ‘The Lancet’. A balance of more than 17 million estimated deaths worldwide (112,000 in Spain) represents “both a deep tragedy and a massive global failure on multiple levels,” the document states. An accusation that points primarily to the WHO that it took longer than it should to declare the emergency, as it has also belatedly acknowledged that the airway (aerosols) was crucial to the transmission of the virus and to its failure of it in the coordination of measures. the spread of the infectious agent. The rigorous audit extends responsibility to many governments that failed to adhere to “the basic standards of institutional rationality and transparency.” The document points out that most governments around the world, except those in the western Pacific, have been too slow to recognize the importance of the coronavirus threat and act urgently. This multidisciplinary group of specialists does not evaluate the management of specific countries and only mentions Spain in passing to refer specifically to the late closure of flights with China, which contributed to the spread of the virus in early 2020.

The most disturbing thing about this exhaustive work is not so much in everything that was done wrong, but in the feeling that we have not learned from our mistakes because we continue to this day without anticipating the problems that Covid may yet cause. . Epidemiologist Jeffrey Lazarus, from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health and one of the 28 co-authors of the work, points out that the Spanish government, along with the Autonomous Communities, does not have a specific plan in case the pandemic becomes complicated again, what is not disposable as new, more aggressive variants of the coronavirus appear. That stubborn forgetfulness of our rulers causes unrest. Similar to what I felt when I saw dozens of Erasmus students from Murcia arriving in the region from Italy in March 2020 without having their temperatures measured at Spanish airports. Checks carried out in 2003 when the SARS coronavirus appeared, including in China. I remember it well because I had to tell that crisis in an informative way, which was exactly the germ of the creation of the body led by Fernando Simón in the Ministry of Health. It’s not that long ago. Not even twenty years old. There are many public health technicians, civil servants and active information professionals who have lived closely with the SARS crisis and have witnessed the implementation of these preventive measures at Spanish airports.

Measures not implemented in 2020 because the government wanted to minimize risk perception, probably to keep its public agenda intact, especially the celebration of international events, such as the Mobile Congress in Barcelona, ​​which was important for the Catalan economy and the reputation of Spain. It is true that many aspects of Covid were unknown, but others were reasonably foreseeable, such as the transmission of the coronavirus by air, given the accumulated experience and knowledge of SARS. There was sufficient information to apply the precautionary principle that applies when there is scientific uncertainty about a threat to public health. The lack of personal protective equipment for health personnel, or ventilators in hospitals for the infected, has been tragic, but if all of the above is serious, it can be consumed by the magnitude and explosiveness of the disease. What is hard to accept with indulgence is the lack of transparency, the lack of control over data, or the invention of advisory committees that never existed by the Pedro Sánchez government. Or the business some smart people did with government services, including the Madrid City Council which is controlled by the PP. And the worst, I stick with it, is that feeling of bitter déjà vu because some serious mistakes, even if they are recent, can reoccur. Among other things, we are still waiting for a pandemic law or, failing that, for a national regulation from the Central College that provides guarantees to cope with the next wave or virus.

Now we see there is an agreement to start vaccinating people over 80 with a fourth dose, but otherwise little is known about the extensive planning that Covid still needs for autumn-winter. Our leaders’ sights are, of course, on the 2023 election nominations, just as it is also time to turn on the high beams to adapt, for example, nursing homes to the social and healthcare challenges brought on by the new emerging infections and the aging of the population. population. The Region has just missed an opportunity to move in that direction, with the dissolution ordered by Councilor Isabel Franco of the Corecaas team, who has been at the forefront during the difficult times and has the knowledge to lay the foundations for the residences of the future. . Meanwhile, in the clinical field, other countries are already redesigning their hospitals to make them more flexible and adaptable for the next pandemic. Is someone in our country working on it? Will we eventually go back to the gyms and see the toilets working without the minimal protection?

Source: La Verdad

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