The respiratory virus epidemic that has hit all of Spain is escalating in Madrid, where pressure on primary care and pediatricians has pushed them into another indefinite strike.

The President of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Diaz Ayuso, appealed to the union of primary care physicians. Emits, organizer of the health strike, which family doctors and pediatricians Primary Health Care in Madrid, not continue it because “cases are starting to increase” with influenza, bronchiolitis, and other colds.

“What we cannot do is overcrowd the hospitals. Therefore, I ask you to continue your negotiations with the Community of Madrid while sitting. For them, of course, we have proposals,” he said, speaking to reporters during a visit to the Puerta del Sol construction site, reports Europa Press.

At the same time that Ayuso made this request, the ministry announced “the recruitment of about 350 additional healthcare workers in public hospitals to combat the rise in cases of the disease caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), the leading cause of bronchiolitis in the pediatric population.” This measure, under the Winter Plan implemented by the Madrid Pediatric Health Service, includes 27 paediatricians, 167 nurses, 139 assistant nurses and nine nurses, for a total of 342 people. according to the community statement.

The motivation for this strike, according to Amits, “has to do with scheduling to stop once and for all the endless workload that is forcing family doctors and pediatricians to flee Madrid. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health has not yet taken effective measures to prevent this outcome.

The pediatric emergency situation across Spain is experiencing a ‘perfect storm’ in which cases of bronchiolitis, influenza and Covid have converged in a child population that has come to schools wearing a mask to prevent their spread and is now ‘accepting all at once’. says Paula Vasquez López, President of the Spanish Society of Pediatric Emergency Care (SEUP). A situation that in Madrid, according to this professional representative, causes a wait in the emergency room of up to five hours.