Coronavirus: before becoming isolated the doctors of La Plata had four days of social life and contact with almost 50 people

Fabian Debesa

02/25/2020 - 18:37

• Clarín.com
• Society

Endless hugs of welcome, kisses to the affections, a family birthday and the return to work after a rough trip. Eduardo Ferraresi and his wife Diana are in isolation because of the risk of coronavirus involvement because they took a cruise on Asia . But this marriage of doctors spent four days of intense and unrestricted social life. And they had contact with at least 50 people before the health authorities suggested they start a “quarantine” of 14 days without links to their surroundings.

“The measure ends in a week. We do it because we are responsible, because I am a doctor and I understand these forecasts. But it was all very irregular, ”Ferraresi acknowledged in a dialogue with Clarín . The therapist who works in a private center in La Plata, remains "locked" in his home in the center of Buenos Aires. In the residence, since Tuesday 18, there is only his wife who is a psychiatrist and family or friends cannot enter.

“My son makes purchases at the supermarket and leaves them at the door. I go and remove them. I have no contact with him, ” acknowledged the professional.

Argentine doctors who got off the cruise and were isolated had days of social life and contact with more than 50 people before being quarantined.

However, Ferraresi raises doubts about the procedure that those responsible for Health applied since their arrival in the country.

x

The marriage arrived in Ezeiza on Saturday 15, from Cambodia, on a Qatar Airlines flight with a stopover in São Paulo. His son waited for them and took them to La Plata, on his daughter-in-law's birthday. "We were together for several hours, telling anecdotes and celebrating the return," the doctor recalled. In the Brazilian city, another 120 Argentines rose. On these passengers, some preventive measure is unknown. "If any of us was incubating the virus, anyone could have been infected," he reasoned.

Argentine doctors who got off the cruise and were isolated had days of social life and contact with more than 50 people before being quarantined.

On Monday he resumed his activity at the Central Institute of Medicine, in La Plata, where he directs the Intensive Care Service. And on Tuesday, while he was on duty in the Federal Capital, Enrique Rifourcat, from the Secretary of Health of the municipality of Plata, called him to inform him that he should start a period of seclusion, as a preventive measure because of the possibility of being infected with the virus he has in Alert everyone.

Eduardo Ferraresi, one of the doctors isolated in La Plata by the coronavirus. (Facebook Eduardo Ferraresi)

As Clarín could tell, the municipal official was notified from the Epidemiology Department of the provincial Ministry of Health. And that agency was alerted from the Nation's health portfolio. “This is how the protocol works. Our responsibility was to contact the citizen and inform him of the situation, ”they explained in the commune.

Since then, Ferraresi answered at his home the call of an official of the province who asked him questions about his state of health. “That was the only follow-up they did. It is assumed that for the weekend they will come to control us and then we would be released. While we will remain isolated, ” warned the traveler.

The couple's clinical status is optimal and they had no symptoms compatible with coronavirus. In Province they clarified that it is a protocol that "is done to all who return from a trip where there is some possible link with places where the virus circulated." They also said that the protocols are applied by Nation.

People queue to buy facial masks at a medical supply store in Manila (Philippines).

Ferraresi and Diana began their vacations in mid-January. On the 15th of that month, in Hong Kong they boarded a cruise of the Westerland firm, with the Dutch flag. They planned to visit the Chinese wall and other destinations in Asia. But they had almost two weeks drifting, because Taiwan, the Philippines, Guam, South Korea and Thailand closed access to their ports for fear of contagion. They were admitted to Cambodia and from there they began the return.

Argentine doctors who got off the cruise and were isolated had days of social life and contact with more than 50 people before being quarantined.

The ship carried 1,500 tourists and an 83-year-old passenger activated the alarms . He had symptoms that could be from the virus disease and was treated at a hospital in Kuala Lumpur. The woman has a US passport and when she arrived in her country it was confirmed that the tests tested negative for the coronavirus. But the Westerland cruise had been targeted.

However, Ferraresi and Diana passed through Ezeiza airport without medical check-up or health checks. Now both meet seamlessly with the restriction. But until this Tuesday at noon, without formal notifications, in writing or electronically, of your situation. There was no official communication from Nation or Province. “I don't even have a paper to present at work. And my lady had to answer questions without being able to justify them, ”said the doctor from La Plata.

GS