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Do you also regret, as the Minister of Health assumed, that the DGS did not recommend wearing a social mask before?
I have no regrets, I say again. Not that I’m not a dandy. Measures are being taken as there is evidence and we have to align ourselves with something.
Didn’t the argument turn out to be the precautionary principle in public health, rather than the evidence?
But for that there had to be some evidence. And yet there are still some doubts, this is not black or white. We are convinced that using a barrier method, along with other measures, can be an advantage. But I have seen the opposite. Before wearing a mask on the street, most people did their best not to cross paths with other passers-by. Since we started wearing a mask, people have come very close and this is extremely concerning to me because a mask is not 100% effective. Wearing a mask is a supplement. We cannot avoid having distance, disinfect surfaces, wash our hands.
I read this week about this idea of a new social contract that requires a change in habits and one of them is quite common among us: going to work sick, constipated.
It was always something I tried to counter here at DGS. When a person enters the elevator sipping, sneezing, “I am so cold there but I came to work.” My answer was always: ‘Yes, but you shouldn’t.’ He is totally discouraged. Those who are ill should not go to work and, if they are, they should wear a mask and have distance.
Didn’t it make sense to use it for normal flu too?
Culturally we are not used to it and, contrary to popular belief, very few people are. The Japanese may be the ones who wear them the most, along with South Korea, and it’s interesting that they wear the mask for this purpose: not to spread disease to anyone, to protect others. They are new learning. Another thing we do a lot without thinking about is being careful with our hands and hence the advice to wash frequently. If I cough on my elbow, I’m fine, but if I cross my arms and put my hand on my elbow, it will be the same.
He has been caught at times when, despite advice, he does the opposite. How do you feel when you see these images?
I feel that even I, who am so trained, am not perfect, I imagine other people. And then there are some less benign images. There is one that I have seen that I am speaking quietly to the minister. At that time there was no community transmission in Portugal. The probability of me or the minister becoming infected was as great as that of a vase falling on us. Whoever works with me knows how obsessed I am with social detachment. I put some strips on the floor in my office and when they pass me I send them back. But I am aware that it is difficult. I used to move my face many times to adjust my lenses and now I try to move only to the sides of the rods. I think I never touched my eyes again and there was a lot of tic, taking off when I paint them in the morning. There is no zero risk, no perfect people. If I make mistakes, the normal citizen will do more. It is not critical, it is a finding.
Some criticism goes beyond these examples. Rui Moreira went so far as to say that he did not recognize DGS authority.
I know there are criticisms, some will be forced, others will be justified.
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