Private healthcare and hotels available if needed for coronavirus emergency

The minister of health, Alba Vergés, said on Saturday that private health facilities and hotels will be made available in case they needed to be activated for the coronavirus crisis. 

Vergés told local radio station Catalunya Ràdio that the health system is not yet collapsed, that drastic measures have been taken to prevent such a scenario, and priority will be given to those in more urgent need, and urged people with mild symptoms to stay at home. 

The minister has been in contact with private hospitals for some days now to get the measures in place. "We don't yet need it today, but we may need it," she said. The same has been said about hotels, as Madrid have already brought in a new initiative where those infected with covid-19 can quarantine in hotel rooms if necessary. 

Vergés has defended the confinement of Catalonia. "It was important to get ahead of what is happening in Madrid and Italy," she concluded.

The health minister emphasized that the important thing is not the number of confirmed patients, but the trend of the number of infected. She acknowledged that the concern is no longer just Igualada, which has been on complete lockdown since Friday. She also warned that the results of the measures taken now will not be seen for ten days.

In her address, she also called for solidarity from the entire population, insisting that people with mild symptoms should not go to health centers, but rather to stay home.

Throughout the last couple of weeks, authorities have reminded the population at every opportunity of the importance of washing hands and not touching faces.