The Spanish Society of Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine (SERMEF) has called for "caution" when withdrawing the compulsory use of masks indoors, as after Easter "there may be an increase in cases due to the high level of social interaction that is expected to occur during these dates".
In a statement, the rehabilitation doctors point out that "after more than two years of the pandemic, the after-effects of persistent COVID-19 have further burdened the already overburdened Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation services".
"These patients with persistent COVID-19 have already been added to the care provided by rehabilitation doctors for the sequelae of severe cases of COVID-19 after hospital discharge and also for all other rehabilitation processes," they insist.
Before the pandemic, the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation services "were already very stressed with long waiting lists due to the constant increase in the ageing population, which leads to a higher prevalence of chronic diseases associated with disability that require Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation".
"All this is causing a constant increase in waiting lists for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Services due to the increase in the survival of people with sequelae of serious illnesses; and of patients who have undergone surgical techniques and require subsequent rehabilitation," they emphasise.
Dr. Carolina De Miguel Benadiba, emphasised that "patients need continuity in their rehabilitation to deal with the after-effects of their disability", and denounced that "this saturation of the system does not guarantee rehabilitation care for these patients and the consequences on their state of health will be irreversible".