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Bengoa believes it is necessary to be “stricter” with people “who come from highly contagious places”
Former Director of the WHO Health System and former Minister of Health of the Basque Government, Rafael Bengoa, felt the European Union (EU) was too ‘laid back’ in taking steps to detect possible cases of covid-19 among travelers on flights from China. For her part, the UPV / EHU microbiologist Begoña Díez was in favor of extending the fourth dose of the vaccine against this virus to the entire population and that all people with symptoms of a respiratory disease wear a mask “everywhere”.
“It is simply not yet known whether vaccines are useful for Kraken, so for now it’s better to continue recommending the fourth dose. Vaccines protect us a lot, more than the natural infections we’ve had. What we are not protected from is the new variant that could emerge from China in a few weeks or months,” Bengoa stressed.
Both experts analyzed the situation in which the pandemic is and the possible impact that the expansion of the covid could have in China after the lifting of the harsh sanitary measures established in that country following the onset of the sanitary crisis.
Bengoa thought about it it is necessary to be “cautious” and go beyond “simple recommendations” carried out by the EU, which advised its member states to require negative covid tests for all passengers from China carried out “no more than 48 hours before departure” from the country.
The former Minister of Health of the Basque government also believes this is to be “pretty relaxed,” as people who test positive Upon arrival in the country of destination, they are only advised to wear a mask and not go to crowded places.
“INSUFFICIENT”
“It seems insufficient; that person should self-isolate,” he said. Bengoa added it “the logical thing would be to be more severe” with people “that come from places with high infectivity”.
Likewise, Díez stated this “it is not so serious to request a PCR or an antigen test” from people who come from a country with “high incidence” of covid. “I think it’s acceptable in a pandemic scenario like the one we still have,” she added.
The UPV/EHU microbiologist recalled that “everything indicates” that the new variants or subvariants of the covid that are in circulation they are more contagious, although they do not appear to have a higher mortality rate.
In this sense he stated that “it seems that we are moving towards endemicity”, that is towards a situation where “there will always be an infection rate”, but in which the virus can be kept under a certain “control”, avoiding an “overload” of the health system. However, this prognosis could be altered if variants emerge that combine greater transmissibility and greater mortality or resistance to vaccines.
“WORST CASE SCENARIO”
In this sense, Bengoa warned the authorities should have a plan for the possibility of a “worst case” scenario, and regretted that there does not appear to be such a strategy.
In relation to the fourth dose of vaccine, Díez considered this reinforcement “We’ll all have to put it on” and that what is foreseeable is that it will happen as with the flu, so that every year the vaccine protection is updated, adapting it to the variations of the virus.
This microbiologist also showed his rejection of the possibility of lift the obligation to wear a mask in public transport, especially in the current situation of high incidence of flu, covid and syncytial virus.
“RATIONAL” USE OF MASKS
In this sense, beyond the regulation of the use of masks, it has been favorable make the population aware of the need for a “rational” use of this element of protection.
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Díaz explained, for example, that people who exhibit symptoms of a respiratory pathology should use the mask “everywhere”; something that is advisable even for people most vulnerable to the virus.
In a similar line, Bengoa manifested itself. “The last thing I would think about in full flu and with covid and syncytial virus is to lift some measures such as the wearing of masks on public transport,” he said.
