Juan Torres, head of the Internal Medicine Service at the Infanta Leonor University Hospital.
A couple of years ago the president of the government, Pedro Sanchezdecreed the state of alarm, a fact that restricted movements to the maximum to try to stop the advance of the SARS-CoV-2. Currently, the situation has changed drastically thanks to the high percentage of people vaccinated against Covid-19 in Spain, despite the fact that the population has faced several pandemic waves such as the one produced by the variants Delta and Omicron. As a reflection, John Torreshead of the Internal Medicine Service of the Infanta Leonor University Hospital, takes stock of the management of the pandemic in our country.
Torres assures that the feeling he has is “bittersweet” and he does not believe that “Spain is prepared to face a new pandemic”, as he declares for the special of ‘Lessons from Covid-19‘, impulsed by Medical Writing. An issue that is fostered both by “the previous serious crisis suffered by the Primary Care and that the pandemic has exacerbated” as well as “the absence of an operational structure of Public health“.
What balance do you make of the management of the pandemic after two years of the first case of the Covid-19 coronavirus detected in Spain?
The balance is bittersweet, I think we have done things very well such as the vaccination of the population or the enormous work of health professionals and healthcare organizations to adapt to change. However, I believe that we have also done things wrong, beginning with the disagreement of our rulers who continue to be more aware of partisan struggles and electoral issues. And continuing for not adapting certain aspects to the new reality, such as the elaboration of a pandemic law or advancing in the regulation for the optimization of ventilation in public places.
What do you think have been the strongest points of Spanish healthcare when dealing with the pandemic? And the weak?
Without a doubt, the strongest point has been the capacity for work and sacrifice of health professionals in a health system with universal (or almost universal) care. However, the pandemic has shown important weaknesses in the system, such as the previous serious crisis that Primary Care suffered and that the pandemic has exacerbated, and the absence of an operational structure for Public Health. The shortage of professionals and the mistreatment of administrations that has been going on for many years with unacceptable eventuality rates and other circumstances that make many of our professionals decide to go to other countries is also becoming clear.
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“Spain is not prepared to face a new pandemic because it seems that we have not advanced in these two years” |
Is Spain prepared to face a new pandemic in the future?
Personally I think not, it seems that we have not advanced much in these two years and after each wave we have tried to return to the previous situation. The feeling is that there is a before and after the pandemic and the current environment is absolutely changing and unpredictable and we should be prepared to face it. In addition, the profound exhaustion of professionals is added.
Do you think that the sixth wave will be the last ‘great wave’ of the pandemic?
At a global level, surely not and it is already being seen in countries in Europe and Asia. This may be due to different reasons such as the expansion of the BA.2 subvariant or because the effect of vaccination is diminishing. In our country we hope that the high rate of the population infected with Omicron, added to the high level of vaccination, will prevent new large waves.
Is it time to flu the Covid-19? How should the follow-up of the disease be at that point?
“Influenzaization” is probably a reasonable option if future variants continue to behave like Omicron (high transmissibility with low virulence). However, it is essential to maintain and strengthen the protection of the most vulnerable patients and not confuse flu with denial.
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“The best lesson learned is having verified that if we all collaborate with the same goal, we are capable of going much further” |
What personal learning does the Covid-19 pandemic leave you with?
The first thing is that we must never forget the hundreds of thousands of deceased and their families. From the labor point of view, the best lesson learned is having verified that if we all collaborate with the same objective (which is to take care of our patients), we are capable of going much further and adapting to changes.
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