There was no consensus this Thursday between the Ministry of Health and the autonomous communities to adopt common criteria for the season of respiratory infections such as flu or Covid-19. The department headed by Mónica García had proposed a document, which this newspaper reported, in which four risk scenarios were established depending on the circulation of viruses at each moment, similar to the ‘traffic light’ that was established during the pandemic. For each of them, different actions were proposed, such as the gradual use of the mask as the infections progress. However, the plan was left up in the air after the majority of the autonomies in the Public Health Commission demanded more technical criteria when establishing the measures. “The document is a draft that is still very green and needs to incorporate more technical criteria,” Elena Andradas, general director of Public Health of the Community of Madrid, present at the meeting, explains to ABC. The ministry and the communities decided to meet again in November, since Health, Andradas explains, had already called on the regional technicians who evaluate the criteria to meet again next month “to reach that greater and deeper technical definition, for example, risk thresholds,” says the Madrid official. The Secretary of State for Health, Javier Padilla, attributed this rejection solely to the communities governed by the PP. “The irresponsibility is enormous and I hope they reconsider,” Mónica García’s number two published on her ‘X’ account. However, sources familiar with the meeting assured this newspaper that Castilla-La Mancha and Navarra (governed by the PSOE) also opposed the agreement, as well as the Canary Islands (Canary Coalition). The same sources also pointed out that neither Asturias nor the Basque Country made a statement. “I would dare to say that practically all the general directors, regardless of political color, agreed on the importance of technically improving the document and we are committed to our technicians continuing to improve it and thus adapt the recommendations to those technical criteria,” says Andradas. Related News Standard No Mask in the supermarket and on the bus and more teleworking: Health proposals in the face of the arrival of the flu Elena CalvoThe general director of Public Health of Madrid considers that it is “good” to always have “common and consensual” recommendations that each community can apply them depending on their situation, since in his opinion “it would not make sense to apply them throughout the country simultaneously.” For this reason, he is confident that an agreement can be reached. Mask in cases with symptoms But this agreement, Andradas specifies, will depend on the measures being adapted “to a scenario of seasonal circulation of respiratory viruses” and leaving behind “the nostalgia of the that were imposed during the pandemic. “Fortunately, the pandemic has passed,” says Andradas, calling out some of the actions proposed by the ministry as “excessive,” such as the possibility of restricting visits to nursing homes, “which we know even has a detrimental effect on the residents.” , the preparation of contingency plans for sick leave or the mandatory use of masks. The Community of Madrid, its Director of Public Health clarifies, is not opposed to the use of face masks when the situation requires it. “What we recommend, because it is an important lesson that the pandemic period left us, is that when a person has respiratory symptoms they should use a mask to avoid contagion,” he points out. The Health document spoke of four scenarios (from 0 to 3) that ranged from the “inter-epidemic or baseline” risk level to “very high” or even “pandemic”. It proposed, among other measures, that when the circulation of the viruses was high, the elderly and chronically ill should wear the mask in supermarkets, public transport or cinemas, among others.
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