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The lifting of covid restrictions and limiting the reporting of new infections and deaths by the health department gave us the feeling that the coronavirus has finally let go. The problem is, it’s a delusion. “It is clear that if we do not test for SARS-CoV-2 infection, we do not detect it, and if we do not, we forget about its existence,” says the drug. Bartosz Fiałek from SPZZOZ in Płońsk. “Now we have disarmed, and before we arm ourselves again with the rules and tools to control the course of a pandemic, we will pay dearly for it – often with the lives of the weakest.”
- For three weeks in Poland, there has been no obligation to wear protective masks, isolate oneself in the event of confirmation of coronavirus infection and quarantine due to travel or close contact with a patient suffering from COVID-19
- The possibility of testing has also been significantly limited, and the Ministry of Health no longer reports new cases and deaths due to SARS-CoV-2 every day.
- Meanwhile, in many countries in Asia and Europe, the coronavirus is causing infection records. Experts fear that the sixth wave will reach us soon
- According to drug. Bartosz Fiałek, we will not be prepared for this in any way, because by loosening the restrictions and resigning from basic sanitary and epidemiological tools, we “disarmed”, and rearmament will take several weeks. This is enough for COVID-19 to take another deadly toll in Poland
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An epidemic in Polish
On March 28, the COVID-19 epidemic in Poland ended – or at least this can be judged by the behavior of most Poles, who gladly threw their protective masks into the trash and quickly forgot what isolation and quarantine are. Theoretically, there were many reasons for optimism.
The number of infections is decreasing week by week, there are also far fewer hospitalizations and deaths due to COVID-19. Most of us have relatively recent immunity, which we either gained through immunization or contracting COVID-19 during the fifth wave, caused by the highly infectious variant of Omikron. The removal of obligations and restrictions was therefore perceived as a seal of a good epidemiological situation. This was confirmed by subsequent decisions of the health ministry, which successively removed new points from the government’s strategy to fight the coronavirus.
First, testing for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 was limited. The possibility of self-registration for a PCR test has disappeared, and collection points have lost their raison d’être. Tests, but only antigen tests, can be performed in health care centers, but only when the doctor decides about it. The medic will not issue a referral to everyone, not only because of the lack of clinical indications, but above all because of the limited availability of “antigens” in the clinic’s warehouse.
Even when we go to the hospital, we are not sure that someone will test us using the PCR test, because the facility itself pays for such a test. No wonder that tests are ordered only in exceptional situations, when deciding whether a patient has COVID-19 or not is crucial for choosing, for example, a method of treating his diseases.
The government also gave up overnight reimbursement of postovid rehabilitation. This is a special type of rehabilitation, developed for the treatment of patients suffering from long covid, which has helped thousands of Poles regain their relative form after the severe course of COVID-19. From April 4, doctors can no longer issue referrals for such rehabilitation, and patients who received such referrals earlier can use them until the end of June.
- See also: Huge scale of complications after COVID-19 in convalescents. Even in 60 percent.
Finally, the change for the average citizen is the least severe, but significant. The Ministry of Health has stopped publishing daily reports on the situation related to the coronavirus in Poland. Theoretically, the daily data can be found on the website of the ministry, but in practice there is a lot of chaos in them, and the only solid point of reference are weekly reports, published on Wednesdays, summarizing how many infections and deaths have been recorded in recent days across the country. A solid (reference point) is also a relative term, because the data concern infections detected by tests, the scale of which is incomparably (compared to the state of a month or two) smaller.
The end – yes, but only on paper
The effect is not difficult to predict. – It is clear that if we do not test for SARS-CoV-2 infection, we do not detect it, and if we do not detect it, we forget about its existence – says the drug. Bartosz Fiałek, rheumatologist, deputy medical director at the Independent Public Complex of Healthcare Institutions in Płońsk, promoter of medical knowledge about COVID-19.
According to an expert in Poland, we live in two parallel worlds. One is a world where pathogens, including the novel coronavirus, still exist and evolve. A world in which reports of successive variants and their infectivity are taken seriously and where scientists’ forecasts regarding, inter alia, the next wave of infections is approached with confidence and humility. The second is the Polish world, where those who manage the course of the COVID-19 epidemic make decisions that send a clear message to the public: the epidemic is over.
“I don’t see any connection between the two worlds,” admits the drug. Bartosz Fiałek, adding that the actions of officials will have drastic consequences.
– If there is a situation in which Poland, based on the so-called force majeure clause, withdraws from the adoption of several million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against COVID-19, the matter is clear for citizens: why should we vaccinate ourselves, since the government itself withdraws from taking these preparations? If I were not a doctor and I did not follow scientific reports that clearly indicate that vaccination against COVID-19 is safe, effective and often saves lives, probably also, after reading the information about resigning from purchasing vaccines, I would have thought that since the state made such a decision, participation in the vaccination program seems to be no longer relevant.
- Check also: Is my COVID-19 vaccine still working? Experts explain how to check it
The doctor states directly that the coronavirus has disappeared from Poland, but only on paper and for officials. Observations – both private and professional – leave no illusions.
My friends still get COVID-19, and the hospital where I work continues to see severely infected patients. In addition, almost every day I get to the latest scientific reports on the next variants, subvariants and recombinants of SARS-CoV-2, which are more and more infectious and better and better bypass our immune response
– indicates.
- Also read: A new variant of the coronavirus. XE is a hybrid that spreads faster than other mutations
The rest of the text below the video.
The sixth wave in Poland will find us without a shield
Nobody seems to be afraid of new coronavirus mutations in Poland. Bartosz Fiałek, this fact is not surprising, because a year ago at this time the epidemic also slowed down and the epidemiological situation was relatively stable until autumn. Today, however, we are in a completely different and, unfortunately, worse situation.
– Please see that after the epidemic wave caused by the Alpha SARS-CoV-2 variant, i.e. a year ago in spring, we also observed a relative epidemiological calm. In late spring and summer, it was not necessary to put on protective masks in every place, but no one gave up the obligation completely, did not give up testing, isolation, and quarantine. At that time, we were constantly vigilant and we had both the need for vaccinations and the need to respect sanitary and epidemiological rules, which is why mobilization after the end of the calm period, when the autumn wave caused by the Delta variant of the new coronavirus came, was relatively quick. After all, we were armed all the time – he notes. How will it be now?
I am apprehensive. If we abandon something altogether, it is extremely difficult to restore the action that has been withdrawn. It is much easier to increase the intensity of the action that has remained, but has been muted a little.
I believe it will not be easy to restore interest in preventive vaccinations and force the public to wear face masks again, avoid human clusters, test themselves, isolate themselves, and quarantine themselves. It is possible that we will pay for it with excess deaths and paralysis of the healthcare systemWe had a problem with functioning even when using non-pharmaceutical interventions to reduce the risk of spreading the new coronavirus. With the current decisions, things could get even worse.
- Read also: Excess deaths. Poland at the top of the infamous ranking
Since we’re testing so little, how do we know it’s wrong that the sixth wave has become a fact? Bow. Bartosz Fiałek has no doubts that we will see it, albeit with a delay and paying a high price for it again.
– Now we have disarmed and before we re-arm ourselves with the rules and tools that allow us to control the course of the pandemic, we will pay dearly for it – often with the lives of the weakest, i.e. people with impaired immunity and seniors. But first we will see queues in primary care facilities, an increasing number of hospitalizations, patients admitted to hospitals with pneumonia, requiring oxygen therapy, also using a respirator, and finally deaths. So if there is another COVID-19 epidemic wave in Poland, we will definitely see it. In the context of the health safety of Polish society, more of a problem than whether we will know of the next wave of infection is when we find out about it and how much we will lose before we know – emphasizes the expert.
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