The seven cases of coronavirus that the Ministry of Health had confirmed in Lanzarote have been reduced on Tuesday afternoon, upon receiving the results of the second test performed at the Carlos III Hospital in Madrid. "It has been negative, I don't have it," the Councilor of Health of Tías, Laura Callero, confirmed to La Voz, who was among the patients who had been counted on the island.
"It's a joy, of course," said Callero, who is also a doctor in the Emergency Department of the Molina Orosa Hospital. In fact, she pointed out that this was her biggest concern, since as a result of the false positive given by the first test, other colleagues with whom she had been in contact also had to remain in isolation. "I personally was calm and felt well, but I was worried about those who were having to double shifts, because many of us were not able to go to work."
Like her case, there are three others that tested positive in the first test performed in Lanzarote, and that the Ministry of Health took for granted, although in reality they were pending the result of the second sample sent to Madrid. In fact, the president of the Cabildo, María Dolores Corujo, has corrected this Tuesday the data provided by the Ministry, stating that on the island there are only three cases confirmed 100%, while the other four could end up being discarded.
"I felt well"
Although the first test is performed on the island, it has a margin of error and that is why a second sample is sent to the Carlos III Hospital, which is the reference center for all of Spain. And that is what serves to confirm or discard each case, as has happened in the case of Laura Callero.
"I, by myself, was calm anyway. I felt well, I was stable," said the councilor, who recalled that at no time was she admitted and that she was doing the quarantine at home. In fact, the only symptoms she had were those of a cold, with "some cough". She had no fever, no muscle aches, nor had she made any trips to what were considered risk areas. However, being emergency health personnel, the protocol establishes that they must undergo tests for any symptoms and stay at home in quarantine.
In her case, she started the isolation last Friday and that night they came to her home to take samples, although it was on Sunday when it was analyzed and the first test performed in Lanzarote gave positive. From there, measures were taken with other colleagues from the hospital, who have also spent the last days in isolation. However, the results that have been arriving so far have been negative, and now the one of Callero herself has also been discarded.
"Very high sensitivity" of the first test
Regarding the fact that her case was confirmed before having the final result, Callero believes that in the face of this disease "you can't wait" and that when there is a first positive, measures must be taken. Regarding the reliability of the test, she stressed that the first one has a higher percentage of error because it has "a high sensitivity, but very little specific". That is, it can give positives that are not really so, as has happened in her case.
However, the fact that the official number of confirmed cases so far on the island is going to be reduced does not mean that it will not continue to grow in the coming days. "Society has to be clear that this has just begun. We are like China in December, now we are at a time where we are going up and it will be a complicated few months," warned the doctor and Councilor of Health, who nevertheless stresses that "society has become aware that this is not a joke, that it is something serious," and hopes that the measures taken will help to stop future infections.
In addition, she insists on the importance of all the staff being able to rejoin the emergency service, after discarding her case. "It is a personal joy, of course, especially for the family and for all those around you, because you worry, but also a joy because we can start working again," she stressed. And it is that although she points out that "people have greatly respected the rules and assistance to emergencies has decreased", she reiterates the importance of having all the resources in case the situation becomes complicated.
