Health will allow sick leave for coronavirus positives detected by self-test. The Department has enabled a web form on the Salud Informa page and a telephone number, 876 503 741, so that users can notify their infection without the need to reconfirm it by PCR in health centers. The objective is to relieve the pressure of Primary Care and speed up the casualties. However, the health workers criticize that the processing continues to fall on the outpatient staff and they fear that there are no gaps to attend to all the patients.
From now on, users will be able to call by phone to communicate their positive self-test. "The people who attend them will look for a non-face-to-face appointment at their health center for those who need the leave and if there is no space available, they will send the information to the outpatient clinic. From there they will contact the patient," they explained from the Ministry of Health.
Saturation in Primary CareMore informationHospital pressure due to covid in Aragon skyrockets to 547 patients with 55 admissions in one day Saturation in Primary Care: "We are at the limit, it is impossible to continue like this"Meanwhile, the web form, which can be accessed through the AR code that appears on the health cards without the need for a pin, will collect four variables to complete: whether or not you are vaccinated, if you have symptoms, if you belong to a risk group or if discharge is required. This tool will make it possible to issue a responsible statement with which to communicate the positive. "The information will reach the family doctor so that he becomes aware of the case. From the health center they will contact him if it is considered necessary due to his clinical situation or administrative needs, all of which will be recorded in the clinical history," they added.
Mutual members will also be able to declare positive in this way, although the processing of possible withdrawal and health care will have to be done by their care service provider. For each other, the seven days of quarantine will begin to count from the moment they test positive, as specified by the Ministry.
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Trouble with tracking
Meanwhile, the new tracking protocol, which limits the study of cases to vulnerable people, those over 70 years of age, immunosuppressed patients, pregnant women and unvaccinated patients, is causing confusion and discomfort among patients in health centers. Nor is it helping health professionals excessively, who criticize the "mess" experienced in the last week. Outpatient clinics received a first version on the 27th. On the 30th, on the eve of New Year's Eve, they received another one in which the tracking of cohabitants was eliminated, and this Monday they learned of a new correction.
"It is no longer that people are going crazy, it is that they are driving us crazy. This morning we woke up with the one that was sent to us at the end of the year. At 8:00 we have been studying it and at 2:00 they have returned to change. What we had told patients in the morning was no longer valid in the afternoon," lamented the coordinator of the Ejea health center, Raquel Llera.
More informationThe Aragonese experts show their reluctance to the "mass contagion" model that Israel values The Aragonese pick up the glove from the experts: sales of FFP2 masks riseThe new version, she explained, "reduces tracking to a minimum" and practically limits it to vulnerable, health and social health. "The rest of the PCR to cohabitants and people who are not considered at risk have been completed and they will no longer be tracked," she added.
The Health Commission of the Federation of Neighborhood Associations of Zaragoza (FABZ) testifies to the growing anger of the population. "The situation is somewhat tricky. People are complaining. Many believe that, with the change in protocol, not all the tests they should be doing are being carried out," acknowledged its manager, Juan Andrés, while admitting the difficulties generated by the 'self-management' of the confinement protocol and the fact that everyone now has to inform their close contacts that they have tested positive for covid.
In his opinion, the Health decision is only understandable "as a temporary measure" in a context marked by the "tsunami" of cases. "You have to understand that Primary professionals are not to blame. The decision is well made, in quotes, but what is really necessary would be to hire more staff," he said.
Mayte Clares, spokesperson for Primary Care at the Zaragoza College of Nursing, assured that the new protocol represents "a great change", since the tracking "is left in the hands of the positive" and is no longer done from the Health, so it is appeals to individual responsibility. "We had reached such high incidence rates that it was unfeasible to maintain that system. Last week we would have done PCR on the cohabitants and from now on if they are vaccinated with a double schedule, no longer," she said. She also stated that "we must understand the complaints that arise", since "we had been doing the opposite for 22 months and it is difficult for us to accept the changes".