The spokesperson for Ciudadanos (Cs) in the Parliament of the Canary Islands, Vidina Espino, denounced this Wednesday that “neither the Minister of Health, Blas Trujillo, nor the head of Social Rights, Noemí Santana, have explained what the high mortality rate of elderly people in the Canary Islands between the months of March and July of this year is due to”, despite the questions asked in this regard during the plenary session held in the Autonomous Chamber.
Vidina Espino has conveyed to both councilors the data collected in the latest Imserso report, which indicates that “from March to July 2020, 460 more elderly people died in the Islands than is usual in that period, an excess mortality that represents 20.7 more than other years”. However, the Cs deputy indicated, “the deaths from Covid-19 during that time and recognized by the Ministry of Health are 162 people.”
Once these figures were presented, the parliamentarian from the orange formation asked “what is the reason for such a high mortality rate” and questioned the two members of the Canarian Government “if they may be undiagnosed cases of coronavirus or pathologies not properly attended to during the state of alarm.”
Delays in surgical operations and consultations
In this sense, the Cs spokesperson in Parliament has also referred to healthcare, which, according to her, “has focused, since the coronavirus pandemic was declared, on avoiding infections and deaths from Covid-19, which has forced the delay of many surgical operations, failing to attend to other pathologies and worsening the health and quality of life of these patients.”
Vidina Espino also emphasized that, despite what was stated by the Ministry of Health that the number of patients on the waiting list has been reduced, “the truth is that many lists are closed, because consultations with specialists are not being carried out and cases are not being diagnosed.”
The Cs deputy stressed that, on the other hand, “the waiting time for patients who are on the list has increased, as there has been a transfer from the list of less than six months to the list of more than six months”, so “the delay time has gone from 133 days to 163, which is five and a half months of waiting.”
