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It is 9:30 am and, in one of the busiest streets of Mem-Martins, the social worker Raquel Beato, the nurse Luís Cruz and the Civil Protection technician Bruno Lopes ‘stop the traffic’: dressed from the head to the feet with a white ‘jumpsuit’, cap, gloves and boots, mask and goggles, become practically unrecognizable and prepare for the seven visits that are marked on the agenda.
They are one of the eight multidisciplinary teams that the Câmara de Sintra (CMS) has structured to visit citizens infected by covid-19 in an attempt to understand what needs they have while they are confined, by order of the health authorities.
“We have been in the field since the beginning of July and our role is to visit patients who are referred to us as positive for covid-19,” says nurse Luís Cruz, who, on the way to the first address, reveals that the main function of this The team “is to evaluate the clinical and socioeconomic situation” of people who are confined or in prophylactic isolation for having been in contact with a positive case.
This is the case of Cesaltina Paiva, mother of Simão, 14, who a few days ago was identified as a positive case of covid-19. This mother’s first suspicion was that it was a cold, but the test confirmed the positive case.
“We cannot understand where Simão got infected because we do not know anyone who has tested positive. He started to feel pain in his body and called me to pick him up from school. We saw that he still did not have a fever, but although the symptoms were not severe, we contacted the Saúde 24 line, which prescribed the test. When I went to do it I had no symptoms and we thought it was nothing, but then we received the result that I was infected ”, says Cesaltina.
Simão’s positive test “dragged” his mother and father home, both serving prophylactic isolation, as well as the class at Mem Martins High School, which the young man attends. Despite the limitations, which also keep Sara, Simão’s sister, who currently lives in her grandmother’s house, away from home, Cesaltina guarantees that they are “trying to live as normally as possible.”
“We are calm. Fortunately, the symptoms passed, we still had nothing and we tried to face it normally,” says Simão’s mother, who still confesses that it is “scary” to see so many people enter her house “from head to toe ”.
On the other hand, he is also concerned about going back to work: he is an education assistant and would like to take the test before returning, although these are not the indications he received from the health authorities, which only recommended prophylactic isolation for 14 days.
“I am scared and will do everything I can to test myself. That is what makes the difference, we have to make sure that we are well and if we are infected or not ”, stresses Cesaltina, who regrets that this virus continues to be a taboo subject.
“People are still ashamed of a virus that attacks everyone. We do not have to be ashamed, but take these measures to combat it ”, he concludes.
Paula Cristina Cunha perceives this feeling from those who have not yet been infected, unlike her.
“We are not animals, we are normal people, but unfortunately we had this bad luck. But people are afraid. I understand why I had it myself, it is unconscious, “he admits.
This beautician, currently unemployed, does not know how she was infected and confesses that “it is horrible” to be locked up at home.
“Not leaving the house is very bad for me, because I was used to going out to exercise. Not being able to go shopping is horrible, it is horrible to be locked up at home, the fear of not being able to receive people, of being together, ”she says in anguish.
Tested positive four days ago, Paula still has some coughing and sense of smell and taste has yet to return. Her husband, Alcides Paulo, who has also been infected in the meantime, complains of back pain. The two are confined, which makes it easier to manage tasks, but Paula confesses that even this doesn’t make this situation any less painful.
“I will not forget these days… I will never forget, never. This changes a lot. Changing our day to day also changes our life ”, says the beautician, who is pleased with the visit of the Câmara de Sintra technicians.
“It is good that they make these visits to clarify doubts and feel supported, to feel that they have not forgotten us,” he concludes.
Cases like Simão and Paula are the most common, confirms the nurse Luís Cruz.
“The vast majority are mild to moderate situations. We also capture a significant percentage of asymptomatic patients and a smaller percentage of more complicated situations, which are directed by us to other places for a more differentiated assessment ”, reports the nurse.
The vast majority of people comply with the confinement, but, according to this technician, the main deficiencies arise in the social sphere.
“The great difficulty that we see on the ground are the houses that do not have conditions for a larger home, few rooms, in which people are forced to sleep in the room to reserve the room for the user who tested positive”, He says. Luis.
For nurses, “even worse” are the cases of people who, after testing positive or having to remain in isolation, end up being fired because they missed work or simply because their bosses fear that they are not yet cured and infect other employees.
The mayor of Sintra, Basílio Horta, confirms to Lusa that the social plan was the main motivation for putting these teams on the ground and that this is where the results have been most gratifying.
“The visits have a health objective, but also a social one, which is even a priority, and they try to evaluate the way in which people live in the confinement: if they need personal protective equipment, if they need the means to buy medicine, pay the rent . from home or if they need food support ”, explains the mayor, adding that more than 2,800 visits have already been made and more than 7,000 people have been contacted within the framework of this program.
In addition to the visits and people contacted, the multidisciplinary teams have already attended to food orders from 309 households, in a total of more than 1,200 people, they have provided medication in 43 cases, financial support in 94 and an alternative housing to almost 30 families living in homes. in which it was not feasible to comply with the sanitary norms that advise the confinement and prophylactic isolation.
The covid-19 pandemic has already claimed almost 1.2 million deaths and more than 46 million cases of infection worldwide, according to a report by the French agency AFP.
In Portugal, 2,544 people died from 144,341 confirmed cases of infection, according to the most recent bulletin from the Directorate General of Health.
