A week ago, the Doctor Peset hospital in Valencia agreed on the “temporary measure” of the mandatory use of masks in some services such as the Emergency Department, Oncology, ICU or Resuscitation due to the increase in admissions due to covid and the number of workers who have tested positive in this virus.
The management of the hospital center made this decision after receiving a report from the Preventive Medicine and Occupational Risk services, a “specific” and “provisional” measure. Now, this measure is also joined by the General Hospital of Valencia, as confirmed by the Ministry of Health. From the Valencian Government they explain that to this day there is no other hospital that has imposed additional measures and add that the incidence of infections is not worrisome in the Valencian Community.
Also in Barcelona, ??the Hospital Clínic has once again recommended the use of a mask for patients and companions in the Emergency waiting room and for all people who visit patients admitted to the center, given the rebound in covid-19 and the appearance of the new variant Eris.
The measure was decided last week due to the appearance of the new omicron subvariant, Eris (EG.5), which, according to experts, is the cause of the increase in covid that is being registered in Catalonia.
As explained by Manel Canela, a member of the collective bargaining agreement of the CCOO-PV Health Services Federation, following the recommendation of the Ministry of Health on July 5 with the services of the different health departments and the influence of Covid in each territory those who decide on its use. The decision depends on the management of the center or the Preventive Medicine services, points out Canela. For example, at the La Fe hospital they explain that there is no additional measure underway, but health personnel continue to wear the mask in the ICU and in the care of patients positive for coronavirus, as a general rule.
The decision on the use of the mask is preceded by state regulations that, in Canela’s opinion, are “too ambiguous.” This establishes that the mask can only continue to be required in specific spaces with immunocompromised people, such as oncology wards or a hospital ICU, something that the centers themselves will report on and this was already happening before the pandemic.
The BOE text published on July 5 also states that “it is important to maintain this culture of responsibility that we have acquired in recent years, and to continue using masks and other hygienic measures in the presence of symptoms of respiratory infection.”
In this sense, the person in charge of collective bargaining of the Federation of Sanitary Services of CCOO-PV points out that the Government’s text speaks of a “recommendation”, but understands that if there is an increase in a specific health department “it is normal for them to decide that the workers have to carry it”. He adds that “everything that is to safeguard the health of workers is important.”
