A group of 148 mayors from different districts of Chile met this Wednesday, electronically, with the Minister of Health, Enrique Paris, to talk about the convulsion that public health is currently experiencing at the national level and, also, to Present strategies to help solve the problem. Given the proposals, the municipal heads felt that the minister’s response was brief and ambiguous, so they presented a statement signed by different municipalities showing their disagreement with the result of the conversation.
“It seems to us a lack of consideration to request a meeting to address the decrease in active search cases and to evaluate the increase in COVID funds, and that your response is to review the “positive” performance of your management without providing certainties or committing to measures. concrete (…) Today we come with the willingness to dialogue, but the truth is that we cannot speak to those who do not want to listen or want to understand the reality of our communes”, the mayors express in the statement.
Before the session and the unsatisfactory response from the minister, the municipalities had agreed to raise six key points to guarantee a correct development in the management of the pandemic. These points focus on giving greater continuity to the testing, traceability and isolation (TTA) strategy, offering greater speed in PCR analysis. In addition, provide financial resources for the hiring of more personnel so that the demand can be met, as well as resources for home care for elderly patients or those who require it. Among other measures.
A large part of the councilors agreed on the need to increase COVID funds destined for Primary Health Care, since these are fully stressed by the high demand from people who suspect contagion. Along these lines, the community managers allude to the fact that one of the reasons for the collapse of the system is the elimination of medical leave for cases considered “close contact”, since these people, unable to carry out preventive quarantines, go to the Primary Care, in charge of the municipalities, to identify if they are positive.
In turn, in this context, in which to date there are record numbers of infections every day, it is possible to wait up to more than 5 days for a PCR test result, a situation that the community chiefs seek to eliminate.
The declaration was signed by the municipalities of Lo Espejo, San Miguel, San Javier, Cauquenes, Quilpué, Tomé, Pudahuel, Machalí, La Cruz, Coquimbo, Quillota, Concón, Vicuña, Melipilla, La Cisterna, among others.
Faced with disagreement, Minister Paris replied that they will evaluate the requirements. He added that all proposals will be discussed with the Budget Department, especially those related to increasing resources for the Covid Fund, and also, the issue of making antigen tests more flexible, or granting medical licenses for Covid Alert cases. . However, he did not set any deadline or deadline.
