The example of Poland vs the coronavirus: what the Spanish Gov should have done and did not

@ElentirENG ES 3·13·2020 · 6:17 0

While the Spanish Government still does not take serious measures with 3,000 infected, other European governments have taken the coronavirus epidemic much more seriously.

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The Polish government took the problem seriously when there was still no confirmed contagion

Poland took its first precautions at airports on January 25, forcing passengers on flights from China to fill out a form to allow emergency services to contact them. On January 28, the Polish Ministry of Health was alert to the situation in China. On February 19, more than 1,000 people had been monitored in Polish hospitals, while 12 were still hospitalized and 13 were under observation. On February 27, 47 people were hospitalized and 55 were quarantined in their homes, with a total of 1,570 people being monitored, without any confirmed cases of coronavirus in Poland. Despite this, the Polish government did not play down the problem: that same day, the Polish Minister of Health, Łukasz Szumowski, indicated that he expected the first confirmed cases to arrive in the following days.

The Spanish Government only took the coronavirus seriously when there were already 30 dead

On January 31, the coordinator of Health Emergencies, Fernando Simón, declared: "Spain is not going to have, at most, beyond a diagnosed case", adding that "the epidemic begins to subside." On February 13, the first coronavirus death happened in Spain. The Spanish Government did not take any serious action until March 9, 25 days after the first death happened in Spain, and when there were already 1,231 infected and 30 dead.

The Polish Parliament passed a law to fight the coronavirus before the first confirmed contagion

Between March 1 and 2, the Sejm (Polish Parliament) debated a special law for the prevention and eradication of the coronavirus, which was approved by 400 votes in favor, 11 against and 7 abstentions, an unusual consensus that demonstrates the The sense of national unity with which the Poles have decided to confront this threat, thanks, in large part, to the fact that the Government has incorporated the opposition into the effort to fight the coronavirus, which has made it easier for both to put their differences to face to this crisis.

The law approved by the Sejm includes advantages for companies to allow their employees to work from their homes, and establishes aids for parents who are forced to stay home to care for their children in the event of a possible closure of kindergartens and schools. It must be said that the first confirmed case of coronavirus in Poland was detected on March 4 in Zielona Góra, which shows the forecast of the Polish Government and Parliament. Quite the contrary, six weeks after the first contagion, in Spain there is still no similar law, nor has even announced the processing of such a rule in the Congress of Deputies.

A very different attitude to the same threat

Two days after the first contagion in Poland, and with 5 people infected, the Polish Government announced that 13 laboratories in the country were already testing and 1,299 people had already been quarantined. Yesterday Poland registered the first deceased, a 56-year-old woman in Poznań, in addition to a total of 49 infected people. In similar circumstances, the Spanish Government continued to downplay this epidemic. On the contrary, yesterday Łukasz Szumowski, the Polish Minister of Health, declared: "The threat of the coronavirus is not hypothetical. It can be a serious infection, especially for people who are weaker than us."

Poland banned public meetings with 18 infected: Spain approved demonstrations with 674 infected and 17 dead

Before that first death, on Tuesday March 10, with 18 infections, the Polish government prohibited public gatherings and canceled sports events. The measure was announced by Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki at a press conference just 6 days after the first contagion. Contrary to what happened in Poland, where the Prime Minister has already held several press conferences in the days following the confirmation of the first contagion in that country, the President of the Spanish Government, the Socialist Pedro Sánchez, did not appear before the media until 6 weeks after the first contagion in Spain. Likewise, 37 days after the first contagion, with 674 people infected and already 17 dead, on March 8 the Spanish government authorized large feminist demonstrations in several Spanish cities (the Madrid march brought together 120,000 people, among whom were several ministers of the Government), thus facilitating a mass propagation medium for this epidemic.

Poland took 6 days to take border measures: Spain took 17 days

That Tuesday, March 10, the President of the Republic of Poland, Andrzej Duda, addressed a speech to the Poles on television, stating: "In an emergency, it is important to behave responsibly. We cannot panic, but neither can we expose our fellow citizens to any danger." And he added: "I ask all my compatriots, all citizens, to remember the threat of the coronavirus that only through joint action can we effectively combat it. Our weapons are knowledge, reason and hygiene." On the same day, the Polish Government established health tests at the borders with Germany and the Czech Republic. Six days had passed since the first confirmed contagion in Poland. The Spanish government only took a border measure, prohibiting flights from Italy, on March 10, when Spain had already had 1,695 infected and 36 dead.

Poland closed the schools with 25 infected: the Spanish Government has not yet closed them with almost 3,000 infected

On March 11, the day before that first death, when Poland had 25 people infected, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki appeared again before the media to announce the closure of schools, universities, cinemas, theaters and museums for two weeks to avoid the spread of the coronavirus. The difference in forecast between one government and the other is evident: in Spain, with almost 3,000 infections and 84 deaths, the socialist Government of Pedro Sánchez has not yet made that decision and this Wednesday limited itself to recommending to the autonomous communities that the classes in the most affected areas.

The good management of the Polish Government reveals the terrible management of the Spanish Government

It must be said that Szumowski, the Polish Minister of Health, is a Doctor of Medicine, a cardiologist and an electrophysiologist. He has worked at the Cardiology Institute in Warsaw, and has run an electrophysiology laboratory and a heart rhythm disorders clinic. He has been a professor of Medicine and has published 150 medical articles nationally and internationally. The Minister of Health of Spain, Salvador Illa, has a degree in Philosophy and has dedicated his entire professional career to politics in the ranks of the Socialist Party. This difference can largely explain the calmness with which the Spanish Government has taken this problem. But without a doubt, and although the Spanish Government falsely shields itself behind the science, the effects of the political decisions taken by one and the other demonstrate the good management of Mateusz Morawiecki, who was farsighted and took this crisis seriously before it was even resolved. confirm the first contagion, and the terrible management of Pedro Sánchez, who did not take the threat of the coronavirus seriously and preferred to delay any measure so as not to demobilize the feminist marches on March 8, putting his political interests above public health, with disastrous effects.