Filenews 20 January 2021 - byMarilena Panagi
They did not come up with any proposals and did not prepare a plan to de-escalation the measures, the members of the Advisory Scientific Committee, since, according to information provided by the 'F', and despite the fact that they have already received a mandate from the Government, during the teleconference between them, the scientists agreed that they needed more time to reach safe conclusions than the actual epidemiological picture on the island. , making particular reference to the high number of patients still admitted to hospitals.
This position is expected to be formally submitted to the Ministers of Health and Finance at the meeting, which we are informed will have with them at the end of the week, unless, of course, the results of today and tomorrow's day overturn, for better or worse, the data as they have been set out in the last week.
According to the same information, at yesterday's teleconference they unanimously agreed on the following points:
The epidemiological indicator that will give the "green light" for any relaxes is the indicator concerning hospitals despite any improvement in the number of daily cases.
The situation in hospitals remains critical and the numbers of patients in hospital in the ICU remain high without showing (until yesterday) any differentiation. The data that will emerge in the coming days should therefore be analysed.
The results of the last few days are the result of the measures taken in December and not of the measures that are now in force, since the lockdown has been in place for only 9 days and therefore the 14-day period has not yet passed.
The results of vaccinations will begin to be seen in February, when special attention is needed to the speed with which the measures will be lifted.
The issue of the return of pupils to schools is crucial and needs special discussion.
Particularly encouraging is the fact that there appears to be a relative improvement in the positivity rate, i.e. in the number of cases detected each day in relation to the number of tests carried out.
In general, there also seems to be unanimity as regards the view that the de-escalation of measures should not be done 'abruptly' since there is a risk of a further outbreak thereafter.
Particular emphasis seems to be placed, on the part of some scientists, on further strengthening the programme of rapid diagnostic tests, particularly in the workplace, and as we are informed, concrete proposals have been put forward on how these controls could be increased. Moreover, with the view of targeted controls, all the members of the Scientific Advisory Committee seem to agree.
As far as education is concerned, the return of pupils to schools, especially those of the third high school, seems to be of particular concern. In this case, however, some of the scientists are said to be concerned about the possibility of a new spread of the virus if the students are not returned to the base of safety protocols.
However, unlike the scientists and the Ministry of Health, which is currently waiting, the Government seems determined to proceed with the planning of the de-escalation plan for the measures, but for the time being there is no concrete plan, despite the scenarios that have already begun to see the light of day.
The programme for the next few days includes another meeting between the scientists, followed by meetings with the ministers involved. The meeting that scientists will have with the finance minister should be considered crucial, since it is now clear that the sector of the economy will play a decisive role in the follow-up. Moreover, the duration of the lockdown in force was determined, mainly on the basis of the margins of resistance of the local economy.
The timetable given to the Scientific Advisory Committee for the preparation and tabling of a specific de-escalation plan, including both the dates of the lifting of the measures and the way in which the restrictions will be relaxed, has an expiry date early next week, as the Government intends to proceed with the discussion at the Cabinet meeting set for 27 January.
It doesn't change the picture in hospitals.
At consistently high levels remain the numbers of hospitalized patients with coronavirus and especially patients in the Intensive Care Units, with anxiety peaking as the way the data will be shaped in the coming days will also reveal whether the health system has indeed begun to balance.
Of course, the steadily increasing number of patients in ICU continues to cause concern, with the phenomenon however being described as 'expected', based on the total number of nurses.
Yesterday there were 194 patients with coronavirus in the hospitals, 59 of whom were in critical condition. 38 people were hospitalized in the ICU, with 32 of them intubated. In the Increased Care Units, 21 patients were hospitalized.
In the report of the day, yesterday another death and 164 new cases of coronavirus were announced, a figure that does not significantly differentiate the data from the previous 24 hours since for another day the number of tests carried out was relatively reduced (8,366 of which 1,867 with the molecular method and 6,499 with rapid diagnostic tests). Through the tracing process, 35 cases were detected from 243 molecular tests. That is, one in seven people who registered as case contacts had a positive effect.
