The Adjusted Normal, 38. It's Baack! (It Never Left).
Things are getting worse on the virus front.
Contagion keeps rising in Catalunya, especially in the Barcelona area, and many other places, like Aragón, Navarra, Madrid, and Andalucía. Everyone is pointing fingers, but it seems that, in the rush to open up, all the regional health systems assured the Ministry of Health that they had hired enough people to trace contacts of an infected person to thereby reduce contagion. But it seems that some regions needed, at least, a thousand more tracers than they actually have.
A patient in Madrid complained that, after being told he was positive, he wasn't asked about people he had been in contact with. He himself had to call people he remembered being with, and tell them he was positive. That doesn't sound good, especially with tourists from Madrid travelling all over the country.
In the last twenty-four hours, 730 people have tested positive, mostly in Catalunya. There are 224 outbreaks in the entire country. Some places, like the city of Barcelona and its metropolitan area, have semi-closed again. Many of the outbreaks can be traced to family reunions, and young people having fun as if there weren't a virus out there.
One of the outbreaks happened in A Coruña, among the team members of a soccer team from Madrid. La Liga (The League) has protocols in place to prevent any team member from practicing or playing if they are infected, but something happened, and the protocol wasn't followed.
This past Monday, the team chartered a plane to A Coruña. All of them were tested 48 hours before the flight. There were four positives, who were quarantined. But the team management did not notify health officials in Madrid about any contacts the infected people might have had, and at least six members that were allowed to fly were positive and didn't know it. After the team arrived at their hotel, they were once more tested, and eight were now positive. The team didn't show up for the game, and management got in contact with the federation, La Liga, to inform of the positives, and to say that the regional government of Galicia, the Xunta, had ordered them to cancel the game. Which apparently was not true, because no one had told local health officials that any team members holed up at the Hotel Finisterre in A Coruña were infected.
In fact, the mayor found out through an online sports newspaper that the game had been cancelled because of infections. No one thought to tell anyone that the players had to be quarantined in their hotel rooms. Shortly after that was when the regional government was informed, and, finally, the Ministry of Health. At that time, several guests of the five star hotel decide to go find somewhere else to stay. Some of the players try to leave, too, but were escorted back to their rooms, where they must stay at least ten days.
This type of mentality, of "it'll be fine", is what is fuelling these new contagions. No one has symptoms, so everything's okay. Nothing's going to happen. Yet, people have begun overwhelming the hospitals in Catalunya, already, and twelve deaths have already occurred this week. It's true that most of the new infections are minor in nature, and many have no symptoms. People have speculated that the virus is not as strong as it was earlier in the year, but it's speculation, not fact, and people still die from it. And no one knows what the long-term consequences might be of those who have had to be hospitalized. Or even of those who haven't shown symptoms.
I hate the mask, but I wear one when I can't keep my distance. I try to avoid crowds, and will not go to large celebrations. We can enjoy the simple things of life this year with our loved ones. Why can't we wait until next year for the rest? Why can't we take seriously the possibility of bringing the virus to someone close to us, who might die? It's not easy, but we can try to act responsibly, for once.
Life continues.
Contagion keeps rising in Catalunya, especially in the Barcelona area, and many other places, like Aragón, Navarra, Madrid, and Andalucía. Everyone is pointing fingers, but it seems that, in the rush to open up, all the regional health systems assured the Ministry of Health that they had hired enough people to trace contacts of an infected person to thereby reduce contagion. But it seems that some regions needed, at least, a thousand more tracers than they actually have.
A patient in Madrid complained that, after being told he was positive, he wasn't asked about people he had been in contact with. He himself had to call people he remembered being with, and tell them he was positive. That doesn't sound good, especially with tourists from Madrid travelling all over the country.
In the last twenty-four hours, 730 people have tested positive, mostly in Catalunya. There are 224 outbreaks in the entire country. Some places, like the city of Barcelona and its metropolitan area, have semi-closed again. Many of the outbreaks can be traced to family reunions, and young people having fun as if there weren't a virus out there.
One of the outbreaks happened in A Coruña, among the team members of a soccer team from Madrid. La Liga (The League) has protocols in place to prevent any team member from practicing or playing if they are infected, but something happened, and the protocol wasn't followed.
This past Monday, the team chartered a plane to A Coruña. All of them were tested 48 hours before the flight. There were four positives, who were quarantined. But the team management did not notify health officials in Madrid about any contacts the infected people might have had, and at least six members that were allowed to fly were positive and didn't know it. After the team arrived at their hotel, they were once more tested, and eight were now positive. The team didn't show up for the game, and management got in contact with the federation, La Liga, to inform of the positives, and to say that the regional government of Galicia, the Xunta, had ordered them to cancel the game. Which apparently was not true, because no one had told local health officials that any team members holed up at the Hotel Finisterre in A Coruña were infected.
In fact, the mayor found out through an online sports newspaper that the game had been cancelled because of infections. No one thought to tell anyone that the players had to be quarantined in their hotel rooms. Shortly after that was when the regional government was informed, and, finally, the Ministry of Health. At that time, several guests of the five star hotel decide to go find somewhere else to stay. Some of the players try to leave, too, but were escorted back to their rooms, where they must stay at least ten days.
This type of mentality, of "it'll be fine", is what is fuelling these new contagions. No one has symptoms, so everything's okay. Nothing's going to happen. Yet, people have begun overwhelming the hospitals in Catalunya, already, and twelve deaths have already occurred this week. It's true that most of the new infections are minor in nature, and many have no symptoms. People have speculated that the virus is not as strong as it was earlier in the year, but it's speculation, not fact, and people still die from it. And no one knows what the long-term consequences might be of those who have had to be hospitalized. Or even of those who haven't shown symptoms.
I hate the mask, but I wear one when I can't keep my distance. I try to avoid crowds, and will not go to large celebrations. We can enjoy the simple things of life this year with our loved ones. Why can't we wait until next year for the rest? Why can't we take seriously the possibility of bringing the virus to someone close to us, who might die? It's not easy, but we can try to act responsibly, for once.
Life continues.
Not very good news is it. I’m afraid all those holiday makers from UK to Spain will not care about rules and only enjoying themselves. I agree with just enjoying our families and not doing too much. I’m still shielding untilAug 1st and not in a hurry to go places. I hope things don’t get any worse for you.
ReplyDeleteYes, many people want to have fun. But sometimes we have to change our perception of fun. Thank you. I hope you stay safe when you start moving around.
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