Mauricio Macri's Health Minister said the quarantine "had to be relaxed earlier"

07/21/2020 - 16:33

• Clarín.com
• Politics

Former Minister of Health  Adolfo Rubinstein , who was in charge of the health portfolio during the administration of  Mauricio Macri, Said the current government "handled it well" isolation by the coronavirus at first, but then "had a crush" quarantine by revenue it gave him. 

In an interview that the newspaper El Cronista published on Tuesday, the former official analyzed the health management of the current government and assured that there were several stages. In the first, between January and early March, "where the risk was underestimated." "You can see it in the statements of Ginés González García . The pandemic was downplayed," Rubinstein said.

Then, he pointed out a second stage in which "the president ( Alberto Fernández ) put the issue on his shoulder and the quarantine was correctly decreed." He also assured that this strategy had a prolongation "without additional measures" and that when there were few cases it should have focused "on community devices, contact tracing and the blocking of outbreaks. Detect should have started earlier."

"The quarantine was managed well at the beginning. But then there was a crush on the quarantine due to the revenue it implied, both from the health and the political point of view, and it was not released in time. It had to be relaxed earlier. Now it fell under its own weight. , people did not comply . "

In the interview, Rubinstein assured that since the epidemic is concentrated in the AMBA  "it would be absurd if the governments of the Nation, City and Province were not articulated," beyond that they have different strategies. " It is very good, it is very reasonable that they be coordinated, "he analyzed.

In addition, he estimated that until there is a vaccine "we will have to live with distance, face masks and avoid crowds . " "The activities that are resumed will be with strict protocols, and there is always the possibility of going backwards. An intermittent scheme: go forward, but if the system overflows you have to go backwards," coincided with the vision of those who now manage Health.

Regarding the vaccine, he said that "there are four or five advanced initiatives , one of which is Pfizer's being tested in Argentina." She assured that the coronavirus "is not a complex virus", but that it is not necessary either "to generate excessive expectations".

"I doubt that it will come quickly. In the best case, effectiveness will be demonstrated between September and November. But then production and distribution will follow. It is highly unlikely that it will take less than a year for us to have it," he concluded.

AFG