Barcelona doctors inaugurate a pandemic memorial in the midst of the covid surge

Pain, suffering, strengthening of the link of the profession and commitment is the meaning of [ ‘Nus’ ], a sculpture original by the artist Joan-Pere Viladecans which was inaugurated this afternoon outside of the Col.legi Oficial de Metges de Barcelona (COMB), at Passeig de la Bonanova, where it will be installed. The work, visible from the street, has been carried out in tribute to the task and commitment of physicians and other health care professionals during covid-19, and more especially in memory of the colleagues who died from the virus and those who are still suffering from its after-effects.

“It is a memorial of what meant pandemic for the profession. We don’t want to forget it.” the COMB president pointed out, Jaume Padrós, to this newspaper. At a time when the virus is once again on the rise (although “nothing like a year or two ago”), Padrós has expressed his concern for the “excessive relaxation” that he perceives in society and also among the health care community when it comes to protection from covid-19. “The virus is no longer perceived to be as aggressive and there is no longer the sense of threat. But we need people to continue to behave responsibly: in enclosed spaces the mask should be used and vaccination should be continued,” he said.

‘Nus’ is a sculpture made of resin and stainless steel, two and a half meters high and 400 kilos in weight. It is, according to Joan-Pere Viladecans, “the figure of. a big knot [que simboliza la unión de sanitarios y pacientes] in the middle of a taut rope that originates from a bracket with ambiguous shapes which, on the one hand, represent the Mediterranean waves and, on the other hand, they recall elements that refer to viruses, bacteria or microbes.” “We saw absolute evil but also absolute good: the healthcare personnel gave their all even risking their lives,” Padrós specified in his speech to the public.

“We were lost.”

Different doctors were present at the COMB event. “At the beginning it was something so unknown, that we were lost. But science led the way,” he said. Daniel Paredes, family doctor at the CAP Navarcles. He was also a patient and was a patient at the CAP Navarcles.ng admitted to the ICU.

“I would get up in the morning and I had to think that what we were living through. Wasn’t a scary movie, but something real,” he recalled Marta Vidal, internist at the Hospital Sant Joan de Déu de Martorell. The “fear” of infecting the family, the “loneliness” of the patients…. “And I also remember that thankfulness towards us because the world had stood still but we felt very useful.” Vidal explained.

Concert by Manu Guix

The sculpture ‘Nus’ has been presented this Thursday in the framework of an act that has also counted with the presence of the ‘conseller’ de Salut, Manel Balcells, and the secretary of Public Health, Carmen Cabezas, among other political and health personalities. In addition, the musician Manu Guix and members of the medical orchestra Ars Medica have made the musical accompaniment of the event.