The first thing one thinks of when seeing Oriol Mitjà appear again is that old joke from Eugenio: “Lord, give me patience, but give it to me now!” The ‘pandemic doctor’ can be very irritating, even if he acts in good faith. The fact is that he addresses each of us with that ‘butch’ tone that you wouldn’t tolerate from anyone. Mitjà also has the reputation of being the leading virologist of the pandemic, which makes it difficult for his message to reach clearly or, worse, cause exactly the opposite effect to what he seeks.
Mitjà brought out the party gunpowder on the eve of Christmas, when the virus curve – in plural – began a rise that has accelerated these days. The flu is back (covid has not gone away) and there is no talk of anything else. The researcher made a tweet in which he advised that, if you, I or the neighbor on the third floor have symptoms of flu or covid, we put on a mask indoors. Then the ministry, the ministry, the emergency doctors and the medical societies gave the salute.
Please and thank you.
The mask thing again: wearing it is a real hassle. Oriol Mitjà, in particular, and doctors, in general, give the fuss. I am free to do whatever I want. Political managers are cynical for asking citizens for efforts when they continue to skimp on health resources. Now that we had lost the fear of viruses. To everything: yes, yes, yes, yes and yes. Even though this is quite indisputable, on this occasion the ‘pandemic doctor’ is right. It is not unnecessary to appeal to mutual aid during an epidemic peak into which we are heading headlong.
It is to be trusted that neither you nor I will become seriously ill if we catch Covid and/or flu and/or another of the zillions of viruses that circulate because we are made up of an oak. We owe it in large part to vaccines. And the older people? That couple of grandparents sitting next to us on the bus while we cough and cough again and then sneeze, or the grandmother, the ‘tiet’, the pregnant sister-in-law or your friend the smoker with whom you will eat the grapes. They won’t be as lucky if they catch a virus and may end up with their bones in an uncomfortable emergency room chair, if not in a hospital bed.
No one is asked to isolate themselves, nor are people asked to stop leading a normal life despite having symptoms compatible with contagion. Not even that you don’t go to work if you feel physically well. Nothing more than a mask and only if necessary.
Right now, the world is divided between the dangerous ones with good intentions, the fools with good intentions and the rest, who don’t know what to do. I prefer the latter, even if they are ash. Little is said about the fact that flu and covid continue to kill thousands of people every year in this country. Is it alarmism? Since when does knowing reality mean amplifying it?
Patience, Eugenio asked. Happy 2024.
