Gonzalo Sanchez
08/13/2020 - 15:11
- Clarín.com
- Society
The committee of experts that advises President Alberto Fernández raised a breaking point this afternoon: enough quarantine. That was manifested in some way during the talk they had at the Quinta de Olivos. "It seems to me that we no longer have to talk about quarantine, we are in a different stage, where we must reinforce the message of social distancing and care," said one of the experts and the others agreed silently. That was the phrase that set the mood and tone of the call.
Along with the president were Mirta Roses, Gustavo Lopardo, Javier Farina, Pedro Cahn, Santiago Levin, Alicia Stolkiner and Juan Piovani.
It is true: there is no quarantine. It is finished. Even the president, Alberto Fernández, said it at Wednesday's conference: "What quarantine are you talking about?" , raised exhausted by the avalanche of lawsuits: athletes who cannot train turned into rebels without a cause, gastronomists who no longer know what to do, activities that do not support contradictions, family members who meet secretly despite the fact that a decree prohibits it and a lot of movement, 24 hours a day, in the streets and avenues of the AMBA.
There was a lot of talk about the effects of the extended quarantine on mental health. The experts evaluated the national government's health strategy very positively. They said: "We almost all agree on what and the final discussion is how." They also asked for more support for terminal patients with covid so that they have a dignified death , "that they can be accompanied at that final moment."
In addition, they insisted on the idea of communicating a time horizon, with defined goals, without lying: they all agreed that the news of the Astra Zeneca / Oxford vaccine opens a unique opportunity and positions the country to access the same as other nations , with greater resources, to the most required input. And they put a special emphasis on the criticism they have received for their work. They said: "We are very ashamed of the claims of catastrophe in mental health that some professionals are making, we also do not say that there are no effects from the pandemic, but we believe that there is a way in the middle." One of the voices that raised a serious warning in front of the confinement scene this week was that of Facundo Manes.
Alberto Fernández took note. The committee's experts called for a lot of emphasis on the mental health of health workers. They expressed that there is marked suffering, fatigue and a certain idea that they have been forgotten. From the applause of March to this part, the situation for them was getting worse. Texts and complaints circulate on the networks with their complaints. The numbers of infected and deceased workers increases. The committee told the president that "they need more care and time perspective."
Finally, facing next Sunday, when a continuity or not of the restriction measures is defined, they analyzed the fatality rate: it continues at 2 percent. For experts, that means that things are being done well and that the health system is responding. But they assured that they fear the federalization of the pandemic, that is, the increase in cases in the interior of the country registered in recent weeks. They confirmed that the vaccine is a great hope and that commercial, productive and recreational activities that do not imply risk of any kind should not be closed. But they insisted with the idea that possibly it is no longer time to continue talking about quarantine, but to maintain distance and care "while we get closer to the vaccine."