© Luis Tejido / EFE
Rafael Bengoa
The sixth wave of coronavirus continues to rise in Spain, encouraged by the expansion of the variant omicron, and without the number of infections having peaked. This situation greatly worries experts, who have already described this January as “the worst month” in terms of the number of cases.
Rafael Bengoa, one of the leading experts in public health and former adviser to the WHO, has warned that the education and health systems will be “quite overwhelmed” by the increase in infections. In an interview on the TVE newscast, Bengoa has opined that the recommendation made by Health to return to classrooms “seems sensible” to him, and has reiterated that the greatest risk of contagion to date is “continue underestimating omicron”.
Although this variant is less severe when one falls ill, the expert has indicated, “there are two sides of the coin“.
“It is a variant that is transmitted very easily and, therefore, do not rely only on the concept of less severity, because there are many infected people, and that has led us to 880 deaths in recent days, “said Bengoa.
The also former Basque Minister of Health and former Obama adviser has insisted that indoors remain the highest risk environment when it comes to causing contagion: “We know that with delta, the interiors are twenty times more infectious than the exteriors, with omicron that will have increased”.
According to Rafael Bengoa, “the risks remain indoors, in people without masks and unvaccinated people“, has assured.
Likewise, Bengoa has predicted that “in the same way that the schools are going to be quite overwhelmed in January, the health system too. It’s been two or three weeks now, but now in January I think it’s going to be the worst month in its history. We are going to test both the educational world and the healthcare world, “he said.
Rafael Bengoa (@rafabengoa), on the situation of the toilets:
“January is going to be the worst month, we are going to put the educational world as well as the healthcare world to the test”
▶https://t.co/VjKzBgo9IT pic.twitter.com/yoHhBQGhYn
– TVE newscasts (@telediario_tve) January 7, 2022
In this sense, the former health adviser recalled that “the world of health is also the economic engine, there would be absolute chaos if the health system collapses, there would be economic chaos. Therefore, primary care, hospitals and the entire health system in general must be protected, “he declared.
Finally, Bengoa has been optimistic regarding 2022 by ensuring that “this year will be better than the last. That was already better than the first. Things are looking good, there will be many people immunized by vaccines or infections. “After this sixth great wave, the expert believes that the virus will continue to be present in the world and” we will witness small waves, “he concludes.
