The vice president of the Community of Madrid, Ignacio Aguado, in the Madrid Assembly, on November 12. Óscar Cañas / Europa Press
The vice president of the Community of Madrid, Ignacio Aguado, has again asked the central government this Tuesday for authorization for pharmacies to carry out antigen tests to detect the coronavirus.
The leader of Ciudadanos hopes that before Christmas all Madrid residents can take a free test to meet with their families.
The Minister of Justice, Enrique López, has joined Aguado's request: “I am in favor of having tests done in pharmacies to add them to our resources.
But who determines the strategy is the Ministry of Health "
Aguado has assured that this issue has already been addressed with the regional president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, and that it is a measure "that is on the table" and that this request will be taken to the next meeting of the covid group, made up of the Government central and regional, for which there is no date yet.
The meeting proposal to which the Minister of Health, Salvador Illa, has committed himself, has assured the vice president, is for this week.
"Let's not take five months as with the PCR at origin", he added.
“It is essential in the coming days to be able to do tests in pharmacies.
The strategy of mass testing is working.
In those places where massive tests are carried out, the curve is being controlled.
Madrid is one of those regions ”, he pointed out in an interview in La Sexta.
Health has expressed on several occasions its suspicion that pharmacies carry out tests to detect the virus.
“The Government was also suspicious of asking travelers for PCR at origin and has finally agreed.
They said that you could not lower the VAT on masks and it has been done.
No time to lose.
We need hands.
I think it is the right way.
The more tests we do, the more we will be able to influence the final objective ”, Aguado stressed.
Aguado recalled that the community has bought five million tests "and if necessary, more would be bought."
The implementation of tests in pharmacies for the vice president would be "a revolution, a before and after", something that would serve to transfer "peace of mind" to the public in the face of the meetings held at Christmas.
"We have no time to lose, the protocols exist, in France they are doing it," Aguado insisted and recalled that the final objective of the Community is to reduce to 25 cases of accumulated incidence in December.
The Madrid leader has recognized that the antigen tests offer "a still photo", but would put more information in the hands of citizens and the health system, since these data would be traced.
The Department of Health of the Generalitat also announced last week that it plans to extend the use of antigen tests and that it plans to count on pharmacies to carry them out.
In the interview, Aguado also referred to the construction of the Isabel Zendal Hospital and expressed his support for Ayuso's decision.
"I support it because it is a decision that is made with the good of the people of Madrid in mind, which can mean additional hospital capacity in the case of critical situations, it can accommodate a thousand beds and fifty ICU places," he defended.
Information about the coronavirus
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