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– Friday, October 9, 2020: 1,394 cases of Covid-19
First was the warning from the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa: we may have to rethink our Christmas. Now it was up to the general director of Health, Graça Freitas, to appeal to all people to socialize as little as possible with family and friends on the day that positive cases continue to cross the barrier of a thousand new cases.
In the usual press conference on the pandemic, Graça Freitas even revealed that 67% of the new cases registered in recent days are the result of gatherings at baptisms, weddings and banquets, as someone called “three B’s”. It is to this conclusion reached by the technicians who, every time they receive a positive case, carry out the epidemiological investigation. Graça Freitas, therefore, “makes a great attraction for individuals and families: avoid having these festive gatherings, which lead to relaxation and multiple close contacts.” Often, according to him, these gatherings are accompanied by meals, “the masks are removed, which further increases the risk.”
More than 40 university students infected in Porto
In addition to these meetings, there are others that interest the Directorate General of Health: Praxes and receptions for Erasmus students. “We are not in 2019, people cause outbreaks,” warned Graça Freitas, recalling that it is not certain that the youngest are infected and do not have a serious disease. Not to mention, all of these infected people, even if they are young, can infect others and allow the virus to enter more vulnerable places, such as homes.
We have to be responsible for ourselves and for others. People have to reduce the number of contacts they have in their daily lives. The main measures are our behavior ”, he warned.
Before, the words of the Minister of Health, Marta Temido, had gone in the same direction. After listing the effort made, that is, in terms of testing capacity, which went from 2,500 tests a day in March to 19,600 tests a day in October, the minister explained what worries her the most. Of the 28,392 tests conducted on Wednesday, nearly 8% tested positive. “This is a warning sign,” he said.
And it’s not the only one. Fearful recalls that it is necessary to improve the service in the health centers – that so many complaints have been moved – and that this implies not only the reinforcement of human resources, but also an improvement in the telephone network system. What will be done?
We are talking about complex interventions that got worse with the pandemic, ”he said.
On the other hand, better work is needed to balance the responses that will be given to Covid and non-Covid patients. The minister is aware that this will involve a greater effort from all. “I understand that health professionals are tired, and that there are many tasks, I understand that the pressure on everyone is high, but this is not the time for anyone to give up,” he said.
More positive was the president of the ARS of Lisbon and Vale do Tejo, Luís Pisco, who showed a table with the 13 hospitals in the region and explained, then, how to reconcile the care of Covid-19 and non-Covid patients. In these 13 hospitals there are 7,083 beds, 6,330 are beds that can be used in Covid or non-Covid situations. That is, there is a set of beds that cannot be used for other purposes, such as transplants, obstetrics, burns, he exemplified.
“We have 503 beds for 383 inpatients, which means that we have not yet reached our limit,” he said. In the Intensive Care Units, “we have a total of 185 extra beds in case it is necessary to accommodate,” he added, explaining that there are currently 98 beds available with 74 hospitalized patients.
The official guaranteed, however, that there are other structures to provide support and that they can provide more beds for non-urgent patients such as the Armed Forces hospital and, for less serious cases, the Belém Military Assistance Center has 30 beds, They are currently all busy, in the final stage of treatment for those who cannot afford to do the home lockdown. Another resource has been Alfeite, for people who cannot return home after treatment, in addition there is also Civil Protection with “a series of rearguard structures,” he announced.
However, he acknowledged, there are already hospitals that are full, while others are empty, which should not happen. Because of the Sintra cases, for example, the Fernão da Fonseca hospital in Amadora lost capacity and ended up sending patients to Beatriz Ângelo, in Loures, which is also full. Management that is not always easy.
