The new Minister of Health of the Generalitat Valenciana, Miguel Mínguez, has once again brought to the fore the use of the mask indoors, a month after the regulations that regulated its mandatory use fell and, according to some experts such as the virologist Margarita del Val, in a current “difficult” situation with hospitalizations and deaths on the rise.
The substitute for Ana Barceló, after being received in audience by the president of the Autonomous Executive Ximo Puig, encouraged the population of the Valencian Community to continue making “responsible use” of the face mask and to use it in some places where they have “doubts”.
So much so, that the also doctor, professor and researcher by profession did not want to position himself before a possible return to the mandatory use of the mask indoors.
“This question is impossible to answer. At the present time, the current regulation is prudence. I make responsible use, it is difficult for you to see me without it in public centers », he alleged before the journalists.
An opinion that is also shared by other health professionals, who warn of the arrival of a new wave. According to the data offered by his department, since last Friday 6,111 new infections were reported, as well as fourteen deaths due to Covid-19. Likewise, Valencian hospitals currently have 767 people admitted, forty of them in the ICU.
On the other hand, the Ministry of Health reported in its latest public balance that the accumulated incidence in the Valencian Community in people over sixty years of age exceeds 722 positives per one hundred thousand inhabitants, while the national average stands at 846 cases. In fact, positivity in the region reaches percentages of 36%, when the WHO indicates that it should not exceed five percent to consider the pandemic under control.
Miguel Mínguez highlighted during his speech that “the Spanish population has proven to be very responsible at all times” and invited those who have doubts in certain places to use the mask.
“Sometimes we have little memory and the infection is still causing deaths, hospitalizations and admissions to the ICU and a part of it is likely that we can avoid it with a mask,” reflected the Minister, who has advocated the responsible use of face masks and their mandatory use of according to current regulations.
Regarding his meeting with Puig, he commented that it has served to “set the agenda” and the “order of priorities”. Here he referred to the Employment Improvement Plan: “We are in the process of finding out exactly what the dynamics are and the repercussion it is having on hospital centers in the sense that contracts are being signed.”
Regarding the current situation in relation to the coronavirus pandemic that Spain is experiencing, the virologist of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) Margarita del Val, defended that “we are in a difficult moment due to the lack of data”. Likewise, the director of the Center for the Coordination of Health Alerts and Emergencies, Fernando Simón, assessed that “we still do not know if it will remain as a background disease or if it will have more periodic epidemic waves.”
This is how both epidemiological experts expressed themselves at the 1st International Summit on Pandemic Management held this Wednesday in Valencia, where they expressed their concern “for ending the pandemic” ahead of time.
In this regard, Margarita del Val was in favor of administering a fourth generalized dose if necessary, but only with a new vaccine that protects against the latest variants such as omicron. In fact, she predicted that with the arrival of autumn-winter and next Christmas, “due to our usual behavior, we will get more of all respiratory diseases, including covid.”
For his part, Simón stressed that the situation is “very different” from that experienced in 2020 because “we have tools such as the vaccine”, but what will happen in the long term cannot be predicted, although he sees it likely that in the coming months “we will not have a catastrophic situation.” However, he claimed to follow the evolution “carefully” and “make decisions at all times according to the information available.”
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