Adam Niedzielski on the lack of restrictions, after-Christmas anomaly, and the black scenario

Why the belief that we are dealing with an "anomaly"? - The most important argument is the reference to the previous year. A very similar phenomenon took place then - he said. The second argument is the question of the test result. We do much more than a week ago, the percentage of positive results is 15%. and it does not grow - said the minister.

However, Adam Niedzielski admitted that the Ministry of Health and the government are seriously considering the threat of Omikron and are preparing to strike it. - The first information says that the virulence of the Omikron mutation is slightly lower than in the case of Delta - he emphasized, adding, however, that due to the much greater infectivity, even with less virulence, one has to take into account a huge wave of infections and also severe cases requiring hospitalization. The Ministry of Health is preparing two scenarios for increasing the bed infrastructure for COVID-19 patients. The first option is to increase the base to 40,000, the second - up to 60,000, which would mean excluding half of the remaining beds (there are 100-120,000 out of the total of 180,000) for the treatment of COVID-19. This is a scenario that the minister calls "black", but doctors believe that the health care system is already at the limit of its capacity, and the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients at the level of 20,000 practically paralyzes the treatment of other patients.

Therefore, the ministry also wants to strengthen pre-hospital care for covid patients. - We want to send the message to Polish patients who have the right to expect pre-hospital treatment from their GP. The point is for family doctors to provide greater support to patients, if necessary, said the minister. The ministry is of the opinion that caring for a covid patient cannot be limited to teleportation, that the patient has the right to expect - if necessary - a visit to the clinic whose staff - reminded prof. Agnieszka Mastalerz-Migas, national consultant in the field of family medicine - must secure the facility so that counseling for a patient with COVID-19 does not endanger the health safety of staff and other patients.

A tool that both patients and doctors have at their disposal is the PulsoCare program, which "contributes to saving the lives of COVID19 patients staying at home."

Early testing of patients is an important role in physicians' ability to help. There is a problem with this in Polish conditions, because many people infected with SARS-CoV-2 avoid testing and perform the test already with very advanced symptoms, or even only when they are admitted to the hospital.