The queues for tests to covid-19 at the Dr. Nélio Mendonça Hospital this morning concentrated more than 40 people, at least at the time the photograph was taken, a situation that should not happen, as the Service of Health of the Autonomous Region of Madeira (SESARAM) schedule with indication of the time and when they should attend for the second tests, in order to avoid precisely the concentration in the place.
Rafaela Fernandes points out that in addition to scheduling the tests according to the estimated time of completion and the five units in operation, they have security in order to ensure that at least one meter of distance in the queue is respected. There are five testing points on site, set up to carry out the second tests on covid-19 and also the others for normal activity in the context of fighting the disease.
“It is true that there is a large number of people but there is a distance. We have a security officer permanently doing the separation ”, informed the chairman of the Board of Directors of SESARAM.
Rafaela Fernandes explains that the service always asks in relation to the second tests that people do not miss the appointments and that there is a timetable precisely to avoid the gatherings. Each swab test takes two to three minutes and taking into account this reality and the five testing points, programming is done so that no one is there longer than the necessary time.
What happens, he explained, “is that the mother has to go and do it with her aunt and grandmother and granddaughter and I don’t know how many people. Everything goes together. They forget that the ‘delay’ from the first to the second can be a quarter of an hour and they should not be all together. Then, in addition, there are friends who will accompany others out of solidarity. ”
At this stage, SESARAM has not prevented people from taking a companion to go and make the swab, although it has been considering the measure, said the president.
“Those who observe from a distance look like they are huddled together, but they are like soldiers, at a distance of one meter.” Rafaela Fernandes also recalls that people are wearing a mask. “It is a large space and outdoors, it is not a risky situation, that is what matters”, he stressed.
The president of SESARAM regrets that people go to the hospital in droves. “People have to be aware that they don’t have to be accompanied to do this task”, although they understand that in the case of the elderly and children / adolescents it is necessary.