The health minister said the country was going through a “particularly turbulent” week due to the heat wave and that some hospitals were registering “peak peaks” this Thursday.
Asked by Lusa at the end of the Health Commission hearing whether hospitals have taken any action in response to a possible increase in demand due to the heat wave, Marta Temido explained that in the context of seasonal health care, hospitals already have their own specifics and which they implement in context dependent.
“In fact, we are going through a particularly difficult week, especially an alarming one, and today there are peaks in prosperity in some medical institutions,” Marta Temido said, noting that the government is monitoring the situation.
The minister said she hoped “everything will go as smoothly as possible, knowing that medical workers are there” and that they can be counted on.
“For now, it’s important that everyone continues to contribute and ensure the best possible response to the public,” he defended.
Asked if doctors could be moved from consultations during this heat wave to increase emergency care in hospitals, Marta Temido replied that “this is not currently planned.”
“Of course, this is an institutional management that there is a need to respond to a specific population and the needs of a specific population, but from a more general point of view, this is not foreseen at the moment, but we evaluate, of course,” Marta concluded with horror.
Also, when asked about the Rádio Renascença report, which reports that there were 10,215 deaths in Portugal in June, a 26% increase compared to the average daily death rate between 2009 and 2019, the minister said that mortality is a complex phenomenon. -deep and technically consistent analysis.
Marta Temido emphasized that the Ministry of Health, through its units, is “fully committed to knowing what mortality is, knowing its causes and taking action to eliminate them.”
He also stressed that these analyzes often take time to be serious, and therefore “some caution” is needed in how the numbers are sometimes read.
“We want to draw quick conclusions, which is impossible when it comes to complex phenomena and requires time and technical analysis,” said Marta Temido.
According to Assistant Secretary of State for Health António Lacerda Sales, two periods of increased mortality were recorded in 2022: from January 17 to February 6, which coincided with the peak of the fifth pandemic wave in Portugal, and from May 9. and June 19, which coincides with the peak of the sixth wave of the covid-19 pandemic and a heat wave also simultaneously recorded by the Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera between June 9 and 17.
Influenza epidemic activity may also have contributed to this wave in some way. “In other words, three components have been added: the flu, the pandemic wave, and also the heat.”
“Therefore, we are faced with three situations in which often, when they combine, they become the perfect storm,” Lacerda Sales said, also highlighting the need to evaluate these death peaks over time.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
