Government will review alert levels tomorrow before Easter restrictions end
Level 3 restrictions have hardly had any affect in the archipelago's epidemic curve, mainly due to the resistance to the decline in the incidence of the virus in Gran Canaria, Tenerife and Fuerteventura. Although there has been a small decline in the last two, Gran Canaria is on the rise again, so what will the Government decide as Easter restrictions end on Friday night?
In fact, Fuerteventura has shown a slight downward trend in coronavirus infections and their epidemic parameters are at medium risk representing Level 2 (amber traffic light), whereas Tenerife has maintained the spread of the virus with new cases and incidence rates all but the same as three weeks ago, but the transmission of the virus in Gran Canaria is reluctant to subside and yesterday presented a seven-day cumulative incidence of 73.4 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, the highest in the Canary Islands.
In addition, infection rates in people over 65 years of age present high risk (Level 3, red traffic light), and the percentage of occupancy in ICUs are also the highest in the region, with 21.3% of the beds occupied by Covid patients, a figure which needs to be below 15% to prevent putting pressure on the health service and hospitals.
The Canary Islands epidemiological data in brief:
4,542 active cases: The town with the most positives is the capital of Gran Canaria (Las Palmas) with 1,689, followed by Tenerife (Santa Cruz) with 1,257.
683 deaths: This is the total number of people killed by Covid in the Canary Islands since the start of the pandemic
4,785 hospitalizations: The total number of people hospitalized for Covid. 95 people have been admitted in the last seven days
958 in ICU: 20% of people admitted for Covid have gone in to intensive care. Yesterday there were 77 affected in ICU.
Incidence Rates: With 60 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 7 days, the Canary Islands is the sixth region with the lowest rate.
Infections: Gran Canaria added 639 infections in the last seven days, 47% of the 1,342 diagnosed on the islands
Gran Canaria has registered 47% of the 1,342 new infections recorded in the last seven days in the archipelago with 639 people diagnosed. Tenerife added 563 infections in this period, which represents 41%. The cumulative seven-day incidence for Tenerife yesterday was 58.4 cases per 100,000 inhabitants compared to 62.8 a week ago.
In comparison, Fuerteventura registered 61 infections in the last week and its seven-day rate of infections, after suffering a few ups and downs, remains at 50 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. Lanzarote experienced a rise in the number of infections, with 57 cases reported in the last week, which has caused an increase in the cumulative incidence over seven days, from 30.8 cases per 100,000 inhabitants last Tuesday to 36.6 yesterday, but the situation is under control.
Tomorrow, the Governing Council of the Canary Islands will assess the epidemic situation and review the alert levels that apply to each island. Currently, Level 3 restrictions are in force in Tenerife, Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura; Lanzarote (and La Graciosa) are at Level 2; and La Gomera, La Palma and El Hierro are at Level 1. They will wait for tomorrow’s data to look for any trends before any announcements are made after the meeting. If data over the next 48 hours is heading in a negative direction, expect increased restrictions in some areas.
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Over the weekend there were new cases of 109 and 124 for the islands, but on Monday and Tuesday those figures all but doubled to 231 and 216 respectively. The weekend figures will have given a ‘dip’ in the 7 day incidence rates, and we’ll have to wait for the next two weeks to see if there is any spike in cases after Easter, or if the restrictions worked and people, generally, abided by them.