Spanish virologists say the country’s second virus outbreak is a valuable lesson for the rest of the world


MADRID – A few days after the start of the new school year, the Spanish capital imposed a ban on a new case on Monday, leading to a staggering second case to deal with.

But those measures – strict control over the distance between seats rather than tables in food-service settings, reducing in-house and 50-in-house funeral attendance, and a 10-person limit on social gatherings – seem modest because the country’s total infection is close. ,000 500,000, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins. Official numbers indicate that the threshold has already been reached. Spain is the most infected country in Europe, although it is the largest in the U.S. Is in the face of a million million plus plus case which is seven times the population of Spain.

Madrid’s new move is a cold consolation to parents, including this journalist, who will send at least one child to an individual class of 21 children. More than 2,000 of Madrid’s 66,000 teachers have recently tested positive for COVID-19 and will have to repeat it. Elsewhere in the country, two schools have already closed due to the infection.

At the center of the resurgence of the Spanish case has been the rush to return to normal. Spain’s experience has also been affected by the government’s frustration with the tourism industry and resumption of operations; Excessive comfort family gatherings; Inadequate safety protocols for field workers; And dealing with inactive youth, doing nothing but partying effectively, and spreading the virus.

Like New York, Spain stepped out of the ths depth of COVID-19 infection with drastic measures, but some parts of the country were suffering after two months. Clearly, not all countries are equally affected in another country, with Madrid hit the hardest, while infection rates in other regions are seen to be lower, these government maps show.

This could be a blueprint for other countries and municipalities to follow how the country pulls itself out at this point. Markat atch Che spoke to these experts via email in hopes of shedding light on where Spain is now and what should be done.

Juan Jesસs Gastel Ter Toro, Professor of Preventive Medicine and Public Health at the University of Santiago de Compostela in Georgia, was one of 20 experts who signed the Lancet letter in the British Medical Journal, which was approved by the Spanish COVID-19. .

MarketWatch: What key mistakes did Spain make after the Spring in You downdown, and what should it do now to rectify the situation?

Autoro: It took a long time to trace the contact and walk. It should start when the case turn began to decline. The end of de-escalation would have helped to further control the disease. Each autonomous community set up its own tracking system, many of which are understaffed.

MarketWatch: Will Madrid’s new measures, such as cutting capacity in bars and restaurants, really help control the disease?

Johns Hopkins

Autoro: I don’t think those steps help much in the outbreak. … To control the disease, the most important thing at this time is to strengthen the tracking capacity of the national health system. If this is not done quickly, a steady increase in outbreaks can eventually rob the system of its tracking capability and cause it to lose control and exacerbate the situation. National coordination is also very important.

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MarketWatch: What is the difference between now and March that is encouraging and disappointing?

Autoro: Now there is the ability to monitor the epidemic, although for the early diagnosis of cases and contact tracing, it needs much improvement, and the ability to perform many tests, which allows for the diagnosis of a large number of asymptomatic patients. Most of the current cases are young people with less disease, unlike March-April, and the health system is not under pressure. It is frustrating to observe how some social groups, mostly young people, encourage outbursts from their behavior.

MarketWatch: What should other countries learn from Spain?

Autoro: Strengthening the epidemic surveillance system. As soon as possible, to find the largest number of asymptomatic patients, start looking for case contacts and carry out many, many tests. Return to the “new normal” very carefully to avoid new outbreaks. Do not authorize activities incompatible with respiratory epidemics, such as spending time in closed, poorly ventilated places with many people, parties, nightlife activities. … Awareness about the need to take protective measures in homes when they receive visitors, get them in a well-covered room, avoid family parties … because they are in homes where most infections occur.

Dr. Vicente Soriano is the Director of the UNIR Medical Center in Madrid and the Clinician and Professor of Infectious Diseases of the UNIR Health Sciences School and Medical Center.

MarketWatch: What do you think of Madrid’s new move to contain the virus?

Soriano: The confluence of crowds, a return to functional activities for many, and easy March cessation in testing – as compared to insignificant ones in March – lead to new growth in most cases. It will grow for the next few weeks. To date, although many new PCR + diagnoses have been found in young and asymmetrical people, this second wave will soon spread to the entire population, including the most vulnerable populations. Indeed, although the situation has not yet collapsed in most major Madrid hospitals, it is a bit reminiscent of what happened in February, when it began to overwhelm.

MarketWatch: What about contact tracing and other efforts?

Soriano: The advent of rapid antigen tests will be helpful, although there is room for further improvement, such as testing saliva (instead of nasopharynx fluid), selling it in pharmacies, and allowing self-testing at home, such as pregnancy tests, as convenient.

MarketWatch: What else needs to be done?

Soriano: Regional governments need to work further on three areas: (1) enhancing the role of primary care physicians as the first barrier to treatment, with the help of telemedicine, avoiding the collapse of hospital emergency departments; (2) Medicalization for nursing homes for the elderly and other institutional patients and ensuring adequate health care workers and protective equipment – these places are the first Covid-1 in Spain; Has more than 0% mortality during a tsunami wave; ().) Ensure stocks of enough doctors and nurses in diagnostic tests, protective devices and clinics and hospitals to cope with the new Covid-1 surge surge. It is always more appropriate to act on the damage front when on demand, when the damage has already occurred.

MarketWatch: As a parent, how do you feel about sending your own children back to school?

Soriano: Reopening schools is a crucial decision backed by the fact that young people very rarely fall ill and allow parents to continue their jobs. So, I am in favor of resuming schools and so let my four children go to school, with the maximum guarantee they have established. I know that the temporal closing of groups, classes and periodic cases will be reported. Inevitable. But working under this threat is better to paralyze or close the school.

Read ahead:The top coronavirus doctor in Spain has a message for benefactors and tourists

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