Covid update: Cases increase again Tenerife and Gran Canaria. Level 4?

The Ministry of Health have reported that new cases have increased in the Canary Islands again today, specifically in Tenerife and Gran Canaria, with 259 new infections registered. 93% of these were in the two capital islands that had 122 in Gran Canaria and 120 in Tenerife, with 12 in Fuerteventura and just 3 in Lanzarote. Also El Hierro is Covid free with zero active cases.

Today’s statistics show that in the islands in level 3, including Fuerteventura, cases are up (254 out of 259 today), incidence rates are up (all have IA7 over 75), hospitalisations are up (Candelaria hospital has cancelled operations because of increase in Covid patients, particularly under 60 years old), and deaths are up with four more today, three in Gran Canaria and one in Fuerteventura.

The next two weeks are really important in the evolution of the epidemiological data for these three islands, as the increased Easter restrictions start at midnight tonight. But the question is, if these don’t work, if the data continues to increase, if part of the population still chooses to ignore the regulations, what next… Level 4?

Many people are blaming the slow progress of vaccination for the situation, but the vaccination plan doesn’t make the cases go up. People make the cases go up. The vaccination plan is governed by central government as it’s a state initiative, and unlike in the UK, Spain is inoculating ‘risk’ groups, including e.g. teachers, before age groups, and supply is governed by the EU.

Apart from the temporary ‘glitch’ with Astra Zeneca last week, the supply has been as expected and forecast from when it started. Spain receives 10% of all the EU’s vaccines, and distributes them to each area dependant on population size. As already announced and published, mass vaccination starts in the Canary Islands in April and the Ministry of Health say that all is on target for 50% of the population by the end of June, and 70% in summer. So wait for the call, it will come.

The Ministry of Health has said today that so far they have administered 253,260 doses of vaccines against Covid-19, of which 8,328 were inoculated yesterday, the highest figure recorded in a single day since the vaccination plan began. Also 91,350 people have already received the two doses of the vaccine in the Canary Islands, representing 6.8% of the target population.

Of the doses used yesterday, 4,365 were from Pfizer, 1,344 from Moderna and 2,619 from AstraZeneca; the three laboratories approved by the European Medicines Agency to vaccinate in Europe, said the statement.

Data for Thursday 25th March 2021:
New cases:
Total: 259
Gran Canaria: 122 (47%)
Tenerife: 120 (46%)
Fuerteventura: 12
Lanzarote: 3
La Palma: 2
El Hierro: 0
La Gomera: 0

Current Incidence rate (IA7):
Canary Islands: 70.04
Fuerteventura: 91.04
Tenerife: 76.67
Gran Canaria: 75.63
Lanzarote: 29.52
La Palma: 11.98
El Hierro: 0.00
La Gomera: 0.00

Current Incidence rate (IA14):
Canary Islands: 138.01
Fuerteventura: 174.56
Tenerife: 151.41
Gran Canaria: 148.80
Lanzarote: 53.27
La Palma: 29.96
La Gomera: 23.06
El Hierro: 17.94

General:
Covid patients in hospital: 292 (-5)
Covid patients in ICU: 77 (-1)
Home isolation: 3,698
PCR positive rate: 7.00% (needs to be below 5)
R number: 1.01 (needs to be below 1)

Deaths last 24 hours: 4
Gran Canaria: 3 (225)
Fuerteventura: 1 (9)
Total deaths: 658

Vaccination:
Total administered: 253,260
Two doses: 91,350

Medical Discharges in last 24 hours:
Total: 292
Gran Canaria: 124
Tenerife: 122
Lanzarote: 26
Fuerteventura: 25
El Hierro: 3
La Palma: 2
La Gomera: 0

Total Active cases per island:
Total: 4,067
Tenerife: 2,145 (-2)
Gran Canaria: 1,579 (-5)
Fuerteventura: 260 (-14)
Lanzarote: 67 (-23)
La Palma: 15 (-)
La Gomera: 1 (-)
El Hierro: 0 (-)

Municipalities with most active cases in each island:
1,409 in Las Palmas (Gran Canaria)
1,053 in Santa Cruz (Tenerife)
495 in La Laguna (Tenerife)
150 in Puerto del Rosario (Fuerteventura)
120 in Arona (Tenerife)
101 in Adeje (Tenerife)
92 in Granadilla de Abona (Tenerife)
64 in Arrecife (Lanzarote)
36 in Puerto de La Cruz (Tenerife)
30 in San Bartolomé de Tirajana (Gran Canaria)
16 in Guia de Isora (Tenerife)
10 in San Miguel de Abona (Tenerife)

Please note this is not all municipalities, it represents most infected and tourist areas.