The ‘president’ of the Generalitat Valenciana, Ximo Puig, has ruled out the introduction of “hard” restrictions, similar to those implemented a year ago in the Valencian Community, as today “we are not in the same situation” despite the increase in infections and hospitalisations and the appearance of the Omicron variant. This is largely due to the “great asset of vaccination”, so we have now opted to “accelerate” this process.
This is what Puig had to say on Saturday in an interview on Cadena SER, in which he stated that today “we are in a very different position from last year thanks to the effort and co-responsibility of the general public”.
However, although it has recognized that the rate of contagion and the incidence in the Valencian Community is “very high,” it stood at 813.63 cases per 100,000 inhabitants last Thursday, compared to 12 months ago, “we have just a third of the number hospitalized, almost 90% less deaths and an ICU occupation almost a third lower”. “The conditions are completely different so we cannot apply the same measures”, he said.
The head of the Consell, who has constantly reviewed the coronavirus situation in the last year, said that the Generalitat “has always taken the most reasonable measures to help overcome the pandemic”.
“Last year we took the toughest measures in all of Spain”, he remarked, so as to “defeat covid more effectively.”
He stressed the importance of including “other assessments“ such as a person’s emotional situation and mental health, “one of the most negative consequences left by the pandemic”.
STRENGTHENING PRIMARY CARE
Asked about the management of the health crisis, Puig defended the need to erect field hospitals at the time, a “very small investment considering what we were able to achieve with them” and a structure that “will also serve other catastrophes”.
The ‘president’ accepted that the government could improve on some decisions and actions carried out during the pandemic, and for this reason, he supports analysing what happened and “looking to the future” to “update the public health system and “ reinforce primary care and public health, which has been undervalued at times”.
VACCINATION
Regarding the vaccination of children, he confirmed that 75 percent of schoolchildren between 8 and 11 years of age have already been immunised and that by January 10, they will begin to vaccinate schoolchildren between the ages of 5 and 10 years, because today “there are not enough vaccines”.
Puig has said that it is “possible” that the 47 vaccination points opened for the adult population will become permanent because “everything indicates that next year the public will require more vaccinations and booster doses”, in a scenario of “living with the covid”.
He confirmed that by the end of the year the booster dose will have been given to all those over 60 years of age and with the resumption of the school year on January 10, all educational personnel will also have their third dose.
