Miguel Zazo: «Without the vaccine and with such a high incidence, all the hospitals in Aragon would be full»

Huesca is the third Spanish province with the highest incidence. How do you assess the current situation?

Here the increase in incidence began in the Jaca health area and spread from there. However, there are fewer patients requiring hospital care than would be expected. If we had to work with the same parameters as previous waves, all the hospitals in Aragon would be full. But the vaccine is controlling the severity of the cases and that is why we must insist on the need to do so.

What measures have they taken in Primary to contain the curve?

What level of concern do you have with the San Jorge Hospital?

In San Jorge we had a specific situation of crisis last week that forced us to open beds on the fourth floor, but now there are no longer any active Covid patients outside of the fifth, which is the traditional area for Covid.

Has this pressure reduction also reached the ICU?

No. The pressure in the ICU has increased. It is currently full with covid. For this reason, we have enabled two beds in the anesthesia resuscitation area so as not to have to delay surgeries that require post-surgical assistance.

What type of operations are still being done?

In the middle of last week we had to suspend non-urgent surgeries such as cataracts, hernias... and emergency surgeries are being performed, especially trauma surgeries, and oncological surgeries. Two digestive system cases had to be postponed on Thursday and Friday in order to be able to open precisely those two new beds in the ICU, but they will be done today and tomorrow (for yesterday and Tuesday). However, we must remember that in Aragon we have the single ICU model and if there are bed problems in one center, they are transferred to another. We know it is uncomfortable for families, but sometimes it is necessary.

Some patients from the San Jorge ICU have been transferred to the Barbastro ICU. What is the situation of that hospital?

They have 20 covid patients on the ward but none active in the ICU. There are four in it so there are two free beds. And it is true that two were transferred from Huesca due to that single ICU model.

Are you also considering suspending operations in Barbastro?

Starting on the 23rd, and as usual during the holidays, operating rooms will be limited to urgent and oncological pathologies. But it's not that we do it because of the covid, but that it is always done in summer and at Christmas. What happens is that this time at San Jorge we have brought forward this restriction ten days.

And when will they be resumed?

The truth is that we have suspended few, but these people will be the first on the list to enter the operating room as soon as we can, which will surely be after the holidays.

Will these measures be enough to contain the seventh wave?

I wish I had a crystal ball to tell. I would like to because there is a lot of anxiety on the part of the staff, who had hoped to be able to quietly enjoy a few days of celebration since fatigue is already taking its toll. The incidence last week seemed to draw a plateau but we are higher than almost ever. We will have to wait for the data from this start of the week.

Are more reinforcements going to arrive as the health workers claim?

I would like to reinforce everything we need but there are no available personnel, neither doctors nor nurses. It is very difficult for us to cover the needs of peripheral areas because there are no professionals on the stock market or on unemployment.

Are you afraid of the Christmas effect of social gatherings?

More than fear, we have the right fear that if the number of admissions increases we will have a very important problem because we have been there for many months and we do not have the same strength as the first day. And for that we have to behave and get vaccinated.