López-Gatell’s energetic message to attackers of medical personnel

In recent weeks, there have been attacks by citizens against medical personnel for fear of being infected with COVID-19. Therefore, this Saturday, Hugo López-Gatell Ramírez, undersecretary of prevention and health promotion, spoke on the subject.

At a press conference at the National Palace, the official said that these attacks are outrageous. “It is unusual and very alarming that there are people who are channeling different very basic feelings such as fear or anger towards the personnel who protect them.

“Think about this: the person who has perpetrated any of these assaults, may well be the next person or has a direct family member with the disease,” said the undersecretary.

It was unlikely that anyone would attack people who are struggling to mitigate the coronavirus pandemic. “Although it is not, it is incredible to think that someone can attack a person who is precisely to protect him,” he said.

“Our total recognition to all the health personnel. Right now that we are about to enter phase three, they will be the protagonists of the response to the COVID-19 epidemic, ”he said.

López-Gatell acknowledged that taking care of the health of personnel in hospitals is a matter for the State, but made a call to stop the attacks. We need to protect them. Of course by the State, but also by the population.

He explained that he will not call the National Guard or the Army to take care of the personnel “because it has not happened in hospitals.” “We have made it clear that there is no plan to militarize the country,” he said.

He also ruled on the Fake news or fake news circulating on the internet. He regretted that there are “spoilers of our republic” and gave an example of a chain that said about the proclamation of the curfew, something that he flatly denied.

Likewise, he called the doctors to constantly inform the health status of the patients and their families. This in relation to people who have reported on social networks or in the news that they do not get information from their inmates.

“It is part of the medical profession. Health personnel caring for a patient have an obligation to report transparently, precisely, the health situation of the sick person, “he said.

He added that this information must occur continuously. ”Of course, if this does not occur it is a quality of care problem. We call on the public so that they do not hesitate to alert the corresponding authorities, ”he pointed out.

Since the beginning of the month, users on social networks or the same health personnel have reported attacks. In all these cases the main characteristic has been the fear of being infected.

One of them was a woman who reported on Facebook that her mother was assaulted with hot coffee for the simple fact of being a nurse. The person responsible was a man who threw his drink from behind and shouted that he would infect everyone when the woman left her job in Mérida, Yucatán.

“To see my mother emotionally devastated, tired of the humiliations she receives from the people she is fighting for. Yucatecan society is rotten, it is hollow! It is hurting health professionals who are in battle right now caring for the sick, “he said.

Another was that of one of Imelda, who was attacked with chlorine in the streets surrounding her work, after finishing her workday, according to El Universal data. She works as a nurse, currently attached to a care clinic of the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS) in Terranova, Culiacán.

Anonymous accounts suggest that Imelda left the IMSS Family Clinic 55, located on Girasol Street, to go home, but the nurse noticed that someone was following her. Turning, the subject sprayed a bottle of bleach on his face.