Miguel Castanho participated in SIC Notícias' “Public Opinion” programme, dedicated to the persistent Covid-19 outbreak in the Lisbon and Vale do Tejo region, where he also commented on the appearance of cases of younger patients infected with the new coronavirus.
The FMUL Professor and researcher at the Institute of Molecular Medicine considers that the current situation is, in general, expected, given the period of uncertainty that we are going through. “It was inevitable with the lack of definition, and since the number of immune people is very low, there would be a resurgence of outbreaks of disease”, said Miguel Castanho, recognizing that the last holidays may have been an aggravating factor in the outbreak in Lisbon and Vale do Tejo, a situation that, unlike the others, inspires greater concern. "It is no longer just sporadic outbreaks, there seems to be a persistent and resistant situation," he warns.
The Professor said that we are facing a heterogeneous reality, with “persistent situations that have been going on since the time of confinement and that therefore deserve special attention”, reiterating the need for a global strategy to control the pandemic in the Metropolitan Areas of the country.
Miguel Castanho also argues that it is still too early to draw any conclusions about the eventual impact of the new outbreaks of disease on the acquisition of group immunity.
Asked about the risks inherent in the frequency of beaches, a scenario that now gains more strength with the arrival of summer, the Professor understands that the space itself is not significant with regard to the risk of infection. "The fact that it is leisure does not bring anything new in terms of contagion", he said, stressing that "the proximity of people is what is a problem".
Miguel Castanho also believes that there is a generalized tendency to attribute the current situation to parties and the younger population. "I see with some concern that we are now beginning to find certain scapegoats, and we have come to judge people more and the nature of their behaviors," said the Professor in the televised debate, considering that the meetings should be comprehensively addressed and in the most varied contexts, from the social spectrum to the professional.
Regarding the gatherings authorized by the competent entities and political decision-making bodies, the Professor is of the opinion that there must be a manifest plan for their performance and management, mentioning that “we should not be colluding with gatherings that result from other actions and in other contexts” , referring to the realization of the final of the Champions League in Lisbon.
In an interview with SIC, Miguel Castanho recalled that there are more than a hundred vaccine development projects for Covid-19, pointing to “objective data” that indicate an average time of 15 years for the materialization of a safe and effective vaccine, the world record for creating a vaccine set at 4 years. "It does not seem to me to be expected to break the record for less than half the time, against a virus about which there is no experience, using technology that has never been used before".
The imposition of a sanitary cordon in Lisbon is, in his opinion, a “drastic and difficult to execute” idea. Miguel Castanho insisted that everyone's attention should be focused on what is “really important” and decisive for contagion, namely “contact and proximity to people”, on a morning when the Government met with the presidents of the five municipalities in the Area Metropolitana de Lisboa that inspire more concern for the high number of Covid-19 cases that have appeared in recent weeks. Under analysis is the possible closure of establishments, after the occurrence of large gatherings of people in a scenario of disrespect for the rules of the health authorities for the containment and control of the pandemic.
