The Catalan government has appointed epidemiologist Oriol Mitjà as an advisor to president Quim Torra in the fight against coronavirus. The 39-year-old infectious diseases specialist will be responsible for a report which will be used to plan the social and economic recovery in Catalonia after the lifting of lockdown. He will not be paid for this work - nor for participating in meetings that arise from it.
The report which Mitjà is to take responsibility for, commissioned today by the Catalan executive, will establish the scientific and technical strategy to be followed once lockdown is eased, explained presidency minister Meritxell Budó.
Mitjà has repeatedly warned of the need to manage lockdown properly to prevent subsequent outbreaks, and last week sent a report to the Catalan and Spanish health authorities on the measures which he sees as necessary for the recovery phase. Among the many proposals his plan presented were a staggered exit from lockdown, in which the youngest and healthiest would go first; a heavy antibody testing programme among the population and the creation of a certificate of immunity for those who had had developed antibodies; long-lasting controls on entry to large events involving temperature testing and symptom detection; and the intensive use of mobile phone GPS and bluetooth systems to trace contacts when new infections are discovered.
The new report commissioned by the Catalan government is to be submitted to the executive within 15 days and will be based on the projections on the evolution of the virus presented by different experts. Its starting point is the existing consensus that the new coronavirus cannot be eliminated in the short term, and thus will require "coordination and careful establishment of the different phases of recovery of social and economic activity".
University of Barcelona medicine graduate Oriol Mitjà first became known in his field for his work in the eradication of the tropical disease yaws in Papua New Guinea.