The City affirms that, beyond the curve of cases, it seeks to make the quarantine more flexible "as soon as possible"

05/29/2020 - 8:44

• Clarín.com
• Society

The comings and goings of the last hours in the declarations and interpretations of the continuation of the quarantine due to the coronavirus, mainly in the Metropolitan Area of ​​Buenos Aires (AMBA), generated a strong concern among the population. The possibility that at some point it was outlined that the restrictions will continue for several more weeks, after almost 70 days, forced the authorities to go out to make clarifications.

This Friday it was the turn of the Buenos Aires Minister of Health, Fernán Quirós, who assured that in the City of Buenos Aires they are working to make quarantine more flexible as quickly as possible , regardless of when the contagion curve occurs.

"I would not directly relate the case curve to quarantine decisions. We will make every effort to reduce the restriction measures as soon as we can . We work every day to see how we do it," Quirós said during the report. sanitary.

The official explained that the time span of between 6 and 10 weeks corresponds "to the mountain of infections, from the base, passing through the peak, until reaching the base again ", and that the countries that began to retrace the measures they did once the peak passed, that is, when the number of daily cases began to drop.

"The way to understand what the peak is when the cases begin to drop. That, to this day, we cannot represent. What is clearly seen is that there is a change in character of the curve that is evident. We are transiting the mountain. If we are near the top or half-way, I cannot say it, "he explained.

According to Quirós, the indicated moment to "retrace" the quarantine will depend on the "R", the contagiousness index of the virus . This is how he explained it: "The R indicates how many people a sick person infects. This week in CABA the R is 1.3. Quarantine, distance and chinstrap help to lower that value. When it falls below 1, it is time to backtrack the measures. Germany released with an R of 0.6, Italy, 0.9, and Spain 0.8 ".

"Suppose that in the next 7 days the cases begin to drop systematically in the City, then we will assume that today was the peak. Now is the time to start retracing the measures. When the R falls below 1 each day you have fewer patients It can happen at any time, "he added.

On Thursday, the head of the Buenos Aires Cabinet, Felipe Miguel, caused controversy by first saying that the coronavirus contagion curve could last "from six to ten weeks" and then clarify that this period of time "is not directly related to the extension or with the characteristics of the quarantine. "

"The head of the Cabinet has already clarified his statements. What has happened to all the countries of the world, from the base of the beginning to the base of the end, was 6 to 10 weeks. It is technical information that has no direct relationship nor very close with the quarantine , because the countries released when an infected person infects less than one person. This is the safest moment, just after the peak, "he synthesized.

Quirós also assured that in the City Government they are "deeply concerned about all the dimensions of the human being affected by the virus", beyond the question of public health.

"We understand that public health is very important in terms of caring for the human being, but we also understand that the human being depends on a set of dimensions. After so many days of quarantine, there are people who are distressed, who have serious economic problems. And all those issues are important to consider when discussing the measures, "he explained.

According to data from the Buenos Aires Government, there were 7,046 cases of coronavirus this Friday among CABA residents, 173 deaths and a case fatality rate of 2.6%.

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JPE