If one or more uncontrolled outbreaks, such as those occurring in different parts of Spain, were to affect an island in the Canary Islands, its population would be facing a total lockdown for a minimum of 10 days.
In that case, in addition, the Government of the Canary Islands could carry out a broad diagnostic screening -although not generalized- starting with the population groups "with greater significance" until reaching the asymptomatic young people, as it is intended to undertake in smaller spaces, such as buildings or regions. This task could be carried out in about 48 hours but the size of the sample would be subject to the outbreak occurring, at most, within the scope of an island.
If it occurred on several islands at the same time, the demand would be such that it could collapse the diagnostic capacity available to the Archipelago.
In any case, according to the director of Public Health, Juan José Alemán, as of today, that capacity is "high", in fact, sufficient to complete a screening of people with the highest risk in a few days, although as Alemán insisted, "it does not have to be done systematically to everyone, because we would be keeping confinement." The first to be evaluated would be cases of hospital admission, followed by those with moderate symptoms, mild symptoms and vulnerable people (elderly and people with underlying pathologies). The last ones and those that, in case of lack of diagnostic muscle, would be left out of this screening, would be the asymptomatic young people. "The result of the PCR in this group would not be so important at that time," insists Alemán, who points out that it would be assessed to carry them out for a future epidemiological evaluation.
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