The director of the Center for Coordination of Emergencies and Health Alerts (CCAES), Fernando Simón, admitted this Friday that the public health measures implemented during the Covid-19 pandemic could have been «fine-tuned better,» although he assured that «the best possible was done at that time.»
«A lockdown like the one that was implemented could perhaps be milder in some situations or circumstances. It doesn’t make sense for a person living alone in the mountains to be confined to their home,» Simón pointed out.
This is how the director of the CCAES expressed himself this Friday during an event in which he participated alongside the Minister of Health, Mónica García, and where they analyzed the five years since the arrival of Covid-19.
At this point, Simón acknowledged that at that time it was «very difficult» to propose actions different from those taken with the available information. «It is true that I would have liked to have done things not during the pandemic, but before the pandemic, and those are the things we are doing now,» Simón said.
«To respond well to a pandemic, work is not only done during the pandemic, obviously, but above all during the inter-pandemic period,» he added.
On her part, García, who thanked Simón for his work and for «taking the lead» in 2020, highlighted that «many things were done well» during the pandemic. «Although there are still many things to do and we need to take more steps to minimize the risks of a future pandemic,» she added.
‘HATERS’ FOR HIS WORK
Simón stated that during his management of the coronavirus, he received «much more gratitude» than criticism, although he acknowledged that more visibility was given to the latter. «Those who criticize will have to reflect on it,» he pointed out.
«There have been ‘haters,’ which means people who hate. I believe that people who hate cannot, at any time, lead or influence our society, and above all, they cannot lead or influence it with objectives beyond simple hatred,» explained Simón.
In this regard, García thanked Simón for his role, despite the «hatred» he received during the management of the pandemic: «Here, Fernando, I have to thank you again because it is true that for a professional in every sense of the word and a professional in capital letters, it is very difficult and very hard to undergo scrutiny of hatred and insults that go beyond criticism of scientific work or decision-making.»
THE ROLE OF ISCIII DURING THE PANDEMIC
On her part, the director of the Carlos III Health Institute (ISCIII), Marina Pollán, recalled in her intervention the work carried out during the pandemic at the center she leads.
«The Carlos III Health Institute was at the service of the community from the very beginning. It was the colleagues from the National Center for Microbiology who developed the initial diagnostic methods, carried out the first sequences of the new virus, and reorganized the entire center to create a large laboratory specifically dedicated to the coronavirus,» she stated during her intervention.
Likewise, she emphasized the different studies and work carried out at the ISCIII since the arrival of Covid-19 in 2020. In addition, Pollán highlighted that the Institute continues its work to learn more about the coronavirus: «Currently, we are also investigating the characteristics and immunity of patients with persistent Covid, a consequence of the pandemic with a significant impact on those affected.»
Pollán also emphasized that «there is still much to learn,» while predicting that in the future, «other pandemics and new health problems will come,» so she called for «protecting the National Health System.» «Only knowledge can provide light in the face of uncertainty,» she concluded.
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