Gran Canaria rises to Level 2 health alert for Covid

Gran Canaria has risen to Level 2 health alert for Covid today (Thursday 29th December) after more than three months at Level 1 (since August), and becomes the first island to go back up a level after revision of the latest epidemiological report from the Ministry of Health.

However, since March, the levels only measure hospital pressure after the Governing Council of the Canary Islands decided to ‘temporarily suspend’ all regional-level restrictions aimed at stopping the spread of the coronavirus.

That decision has been extended to the present, which means that, regardless of the alert level in force on each island, there are no additional restrictions. The only measures that are currently maintained throughout the archipelago, is the obligation to wear a mask on public transport, in taxis, and in health/medical centres, hospitals, pharmacies, and opticians.

This means that the fact that Gran Canaria has risen to level 2 implies that the situation on the island has worsened regarding hospital pressure. The Ministry of Health have confirmed that in the last week there has been an increase in the rate of new hospitalizations due to Covid in ICU beds, and is now at medium risk at least until the next evaluation on January 12^th.

However, the rest of the indicators in Gran Canaria remain at low risk or controlled circulation, as on the other islands.