Lapses from work due to coronavirus have grown 270% in December in the Balearic Islands, where almost 7,300 casualties have been registered, coinciding with the explosion of infections caused by the omicron variant.

As explained in a press release by the Association of Mutual Accidents at Work (AMAT) cited by Europa Press, at the national level this figure stood at 566,175 sick leave last month, which represents an increase of 632 percent compared to November of 2021.

Likewise, they have warned that the “tsunami” of contagion among workers, among which is also health personnel, “is leading to a collapse in Primary Care centers,” where doctors “are overwhelmed by the provision of care. health and the increase in dedication to the management of the formalities for labor losses and discharges ”.

In this sense, the mutuals have shown their “concern” about the effects of the health crisis on the health of citizens and, on this occasion, “about the consequences that this bottleneck is having in the unnecessary lengthening of the duration of these processes of temporary disability, which in addition to affecting the costs of companies and economic activity, also has a very negative impact on the accounts of Social Security and the State ”.

On this, they recalled that the cost of economic benefits in favor of workers has meant for the State accounts, until November 30, 2021, 3,055 million euros, to which must be added another 2,500 million with direct charge of companies.

Seven-day sick leave processed in a single medical act

According to the AMAT, this situation could be alleviated by establishing a mechanism at the national level whereby physicians simultaneously process the discharge and discharge reports in a single medical act, lasting seven days, so that they only had to contact the doctor. health center workers who have not recovered in that period. “This mechanism would reduce by almost half the time that physicians have to dedicate to these administrative procedures, with the benefit that this would have in the decongestion of Primary Care”, they have concluded.