The Covid management officially enters a new phase, which will resemble a flu in the mildest cases and in which there is a new tool to reduce the worsening of mild people to severe states of coronavirus. This Monday comes into force new strategy which eliminates the obligation to stay isolated in the face of an uncomplicated Covid case to focus on serious cases and that will reduce the development of diagnostic tests to the population considered vulnerable, older than 60 years, immunocompromised patients and pregnant women. After three months of waiting, this coincides with the arrival in Spain of the first treatments of Pfizer’s oral antiviral, Paxlovid.
Starting this Monday, those who have Covid in the most usual way in which millions of people in Spain have spent the last two years must follow guidelines similar to those of a flu or a cold. They will no longer have to spend seven days in isolation at home, even if they are recommends that they rest and, if they can, telework for a few days. If they leave home, they should go with mask and avoid social contacts as much as possibleespecially with more vulnerable people.
This is what the Public Health Commission agreed last week, so that, after eliminating mandatory quarantines, from now on there will be no more no one who has to stay home by Covid. Now they will only have to keep days of isolation – five, specifically – people who live or work in nursing homes or in social health centers. This decision is part of the “transition phase” of coronavirus management, once with hospitals and ICUs at an occupancy level corresponding to the low risk level, it is considered past the “acute phase”, However, it could be reversed if the care capacity worsens and returns to medium risk.
Serious and over 60
As a general rule, from now on the control and surveillance of the Covid will be reduced to serious cases -to know how full the hospitals are- and to the most vulnerable population. The diagnostic tests that are carried out in the health system will no longer be general and will only be carried out on over 60to people who, due to illness, have damaged immune system or the women pregnant.
This change occurs when Spain registered last Friday a cumulative incidence of 461 cases per 100,000 inhabitants at 14 days and will also be evident in the way infections are counted. From now on, those that are counted among the population over 60 years of agethe one that by age is more susceptible to go from a mild Covid to a serious one.
pills for covid
For the cases of mildly ill patients with Covid, they have circumstances that make them be considered at risk of evolving to a serious condition, having to be hospitalized or even die, an important step will also be taken this Monday to avoid it. Almost three months after the Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchezwill announce the purchase of Pfizer’s pill treatment against Covid, the first 11,900 units will arrive, of the total 344.000 that have been acquired from the American pharmaceutical company.
As reported last week by the Ministry of Health, the purpose is that this first quarter closes with 50,000 treatments of Paxlovid available. It consists of pills that will be administered on an outpatient basis and are designed to prevent the progression of Covid to serious states and prevent hospitalization and death of patients who are mild but have risk factors. “It will allow us to have one more tool in the fight against Covid,” said the minister, Caroline Darias.
Paxlovid is the first oral treatment against Covid. According to Pfizer studies, it is 89% effective in reducing the possibility of having to be admitted to a hospital or dying from coronavirus.
To be effective, it must be administered as soon as possible after the diagnosis of Covid and within five days of symptom onset. The process has to be “organized and very agile” and for that the Ministry and the communities agreed that the prescription of these pills will be done by the doctors who make the diagnosis to the person susceptible to developing a serious Covid, either in Primary or Specialized Care.
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