It was one of the last countries to withdraw the measure and will be one of the first to implement it again: personal protective masks have returned to hospitals and other healthcare institutions in Spain.
The measure began by being limited to five Spanish regions, which announced that they would restore mandatory masks in healthcare institutions after an increase in influenza and Covid-19 cases during the holiday season, a scenario that is being repeated in Portugal.
In Valencia, for example, hospitals have asked symptomatic patients, as well as medical professionals, family and friends in waiting rooms to wear masks for the foreseeable future.
Shortly thereafter, the Spanish Minister of Health, Mónica García, announced that the government would propose generalizing the measure to the entire country next Monday, in a meeting with regional health authorities aimed at discussing the current situation of the circulation of the virus. Respiratory viruses throughout the Spanish territory. In the United States, the trend is similar: At least four states have reinstated mandatory use of masks due to rising cases of coronavirus, seasonal influenza and other respiratory illnesses.
Here, the General Directorate of Health recommends using a mask for patients with respiratory infections whenever they are in contact with or close to other people, as well as adopting remote work, especially in the first five days of the appearance of symptoms or after diagnosis of Covid-19.
PÚBLICO asked the General Directorate of Public Security whether it would consider recommending the mandatory nature of this measure or other preventive measures in light of the increasing number of cases of respiratory infections, but has not yet received a response.
Thiago Correa, a professor of international health, believes that the country “has not learned anything from the lessons of Covid-19” and mask use should already be more than recommended in health institutions, as the country has been “for several days with excess deaths.”
However, the expert points out that it is difficult to determine whether the use of a mask should be mandatory or only recommended, as there is “no legal framework for this issue.” “We do not have a law that addresses concerns related to public health and emergencies. There is a gap in the law because the basic civil protection law that has been used in alarm and emergency situations is not at all appropriate for public health situations,” the report said.
For the researcher at the Institute of Health and Tropical Medicine of the Nova de Lisboa University (IHMT), the introduction of any mandatory measure – be it vaccination, masks or telework – must be included in the law.
“Does a mandatory and restrictive measure in certain contexts constitute an assault on individual freedoms, yes or no? If so, is its implementation justified for the purposes of protecting the population? It is that simple, it is a legal question. Now, if you ask me if it is advisable to use masks in a context Healthy, it is clear that I say yes,” points out Thiago Correa.
According to the latest Epidemiological Surveillance Bulletin for Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses, issued by the National Institute of Health Dotor Ricardo Jorge (INSA), hospitals have already reported more than 38,000 respiratory infections and more than 6,000 influenza cases this season. Winter morbidity and all-cause mortality are higher than expected in people over 45 years of age.
In the last week of 2023, and only in the universe of data contained in this bulletin, 1,472 positive cases of influenza virus were identified, of which 1,372 were type A and 49 were type B. There were also 118 cases of co-infection recorded. It has been detected since October by the influenza virus and SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19.
36 cases of influenza were reported by 21 intensive care units (ICU) that sent information to INSA. Of the patients, 32 had chronic disease, 33 had a recommendation for seasonal influenza vaccination, but only nine were vaccinated (in six cases information unknown).
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