Experts recommended tougher restrictions to the Government: close everything for a short time

The committee of experts convened virtually and urgently by the Casa Rosada advised the Government on Monday the application of tougher measures to try to contain the advance of the second wave of coronavirus, they assured Clarion Official sources aware of the meeting that after 8.30 pm it is still taking place, after more than two hours from the start. Some of them even went one step further: They asked to advance in total restrictions for a certain period, that is, with a beginning and an end.

The Government is traversed by growing concern about the exponential increase in cases, which this Monday reported, according to the Ministry of Health, 19,437 positives: 3,353 concentrated in the city of Buenos Aires, a new record since the pandemic began in March of last year. A number that surprised the main offices of the Casa Rosada. Last night, there were officials more alarmed than usual.

Carla Vizzotti arrives at the Casa Rosada for the meeting with the experts. Photo Marcelo Carroll.

From the top of the Executive, however, they assured in the middle of the meeting headed by Santiago Cafiero, Carla Vizzotti and Eduardo “Wado” de Pedro, among other ministers, that they will still wait to evaluate the impact of the measures announced towards the end of the week passed to, in any case, advance in more restrictions.

“A DNU has been in force for 96 hours, for now we are evaluating with the committee of experts. The restrictions are recent, we have to wait ”, they explained late at night on the first floor of the Casa Rosada, while Alberto Fernández continued his isolation. According to his doctors, the President will be discharged this Tuesday. He is actually planning to have lunch with Admiral Craig Faller, head of the United States Southern Command.

According to they confided to this newspaper, the twenty specialists who met virtually with the officials were concerned about social behavior, despite the validity of the new measures, focused, for the most part, in the night.

Daniel Arroyo also joined the meeting with experts at the Casa Rosada. Photo Marcelo Carroll.

Daniel Arroyo also joined the meeting with experts at the Casa Rosada. Photo Marcelo Carroll.

In this sense, they suggested the implementation of greater restrictions in the Metropolitan Area and in large urban centers, which concentrate the largest number of cases. They advised, for example, to prohibit group recreational activities, with one exception: all agreed on the need to keep schools open and protect, as much as possible, economic activity. “Fine tuning: it is a very thin limit”, reasoned official sources.

The specialists spoke, in this vein, of “a new pandemic”, caused by the new variants that for months have been hitting the region relentlessly, with its epicenter in Brazil. Spurred on, moreover, by a vaccination campaign that is progressing, although still without the desired coverage.

Therefore, the experts called for targeted closure measures: “For a short time, with a beginning and an end”, official sources assured. Namely, the return to a phase 1 but for a specified time, and in targeted areas.

Sabina Frederic enters the Casa Rosada for the meeting with the experts for the coronavirus. Photo Marcelo Carroll.

Sabina Frederic enters the Casa Rosada for the meeting with the experts for the coronavirus. Photo Marcelo Carroll.

In addition to the meeting, in addition to the ministers – Sabina Frederic, Vilma Ibarra, Gustavo Béliz, Daniel Arroyo and Cecilia Nicolini – participated Luis Cámera, Omar Sued, María Marta Contrini, Susana Lloveras, Florencia Cahn, Elsa Baumeister, Cecilia Freire, Gonzalo Camargo, Pablo Bonvehí, Angela Gentile, Eduardo Lopez, Tomás Orduna, Gustavo Lopardo, Pedro Cahn, Mirta Roses, Charlotte Russ, Ignacio Maglio, Gabriela Kessler (sociologist), Silvia Bentolila (psychiatrist), Santiago Levin (psychiatrist), Juan Piovani ( CONICET researcher) and Alicia Stolkiner (specialized in mental health).

The Inclusion of sociologists, psychiatrists, and mental health specialists follows a logic: the government wants to evaluate with experts in various disciplines before taking tougher measures. In part, to analyze the impact on social humor.

The concern of the Government is centered in these hours, as this newspaper anticipated yesterday, in the occupation of therapy beds, which grows daily, especially in the Metropolitan Area.

In the City, however, they still resist the possibility of entering another phase: They argue that of the 450 beds in public hospitals, there are just over 200 occupied. The problem, they underline, is the private system, which currently dedicates around 30% of the beds to the treatment of patients with COVID. It is one of the main tasks in which the Government is engaged: in increasing that percentage, and leaving the beds almost exclusively for the coronavirus.

In Casa Rosada, however, they assure that the DNU published last week leaves the jurisdictions empowered to make unilateral decisions, while the province of Buenos Aires presses for more restrictions, in contrast to the City.

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source https://pledgetimes.com/experts-recommended-tougher-restrictions-to-the-government-close-everything-for-a-short-time/