In Mexico we are “walking blindfolded” due to the low number of COVID-19 tests that have been done, says a specialist from the ABC Hospital in CDMX.
Francisco Moreno, in charge of the COVID-19 program at the ABC Medical Center, said that his main concern is that Mexico is walking blindfolded in this pandemic due to the low number of tests.
Moreno Sánchez pointed out the importance of conducting coronavirus tests to have greater certainty of what is happening in the country and to make public health decisions.
“When the Undersecretary of Health talks about “Flattening the curve”, that would mean that the number of cases in the country begins to decrease with respect to what is happening in previous days, but we feel that we are ‘walking blindfolded’ in this situation, because the number of tests is low, so the number of detections is low too, and we can not be sure of when we are reaching the peak of the pandemic, much less if we are flattening the curve or not, “said the specialist.
“The peak of the pandemic is a plateau that can last two, three, four days, but the problem is that if we see the amount of tests we do per million inhabitants in this country, it is 776 for each million inhabitants, we are the country 147 in terms of testing. The numbers are very difficult to interpret, we believe that the peak will come in the coming days, but right now, the number of patients is not decreasing, on the contrary it is increasing, “he added.
Moreno Sánchez pointed out that by carrying out a greater number of tests in Mexico, it would be possible to know the number of COVID-19 asymptomatic patients, who already had the disease without realizing it, and who developed immunity, for which there would be a better picture, in order to determine when to get out of quarantine.
“The way in which the countries of the world are beginning to open businesses, and return to work, is based on the immunological status of their inhabitants, Chile, Germany, Spain are doing it, but here in Mexico we need to have real numbers of infected, recovered and immune patients, and the only way to achieve that is with tests, not with projections, as Dr. Hugo López-Gatell has been doing it so far”, Dr. Moreno argued.
“In Mexico, we have a relatively young population with diabetes and obesity problems, and the number of asymptomatic people could be very high, but since no tests are being conducted, we don’t know” he reiterated.
Dr. Francisco Moreno, the specialist in charge of the COVID-19 program at the ABC Medical Center pointed out that the virus could be eliminated in two ways: 1) that there is immunity in the population; or 2) with a vaccine, although the latter option could take time, even years.
