The result of the first analyses of the island's wastewater in search of possible Covid-19 outbreaks has pointed to two areas of Arrecife: the neighborhoods of San Francisco Javier and Tinasoria, where a high presence of the virus has been detected. Now, as a result of this study promoted by the Cabildo, the Ministry of Health of the Government of the Canary Islands will carry out mass tests in these two neighborhoods, to locate possible asymptomatic cases that have not been diagnosed until now.
This was announced this Wednesday, in a press conference in which the Cabildo presented the first conclusions of this study commissioned to the company Global Omnium. Together with the president, María Dolores Corujo, the manager of the Lanzarote Health Services, José Luis Aparicio, and the director of services of the company in charge of this 'Early Warning System for Covid 19', Juan Francisco Maestre, appeared.
According to Aparicio, the objective now is to carry out a massive screening with some 6,000 tests on people who reside in these two areas of the capital, as they are the most affected.
However, the president explained that "worrying levels" have also been detected in other areas of the island, another in the capital and the rest in three other municipalities. Specifically, she referred to Puerto del Carmen, Playa Blanca, Costa Teguise and La Concha, where she announced that "action will also be taken", but once it is finished in the Arrecife neighborhoods of San Francisco Javier and Tinasoria.
Regarding the first three, she pointed out that as they are tourist areas, it is considered that there is greater mobility and the indicators found may not correspond to residents. Regarding La Concha, an urbanization that belongs to the municipality of Arrecife but is located next to Playa Honda, she specified that the data is "less elevated" than in San Francisco Javier and Tinasoria and that therefore these neighborhoods will be prioritized in this first screening.
As a positive note, Corujo highlighted that in the analysis of wastewater "emphasis has been placed on the areas where the residences for the elderly are located", which are the most vulnerable population, and that "fortunately all the residences have tested negative".
The screening will begin this weekend
Regarding the screening that will be done in the neighborhoods of San Francisco and Tinasoria, as it has been advanced in the press conference, it will begin this weekend in the Covid Auto of the Exhibition Center, hoping that the first results will be "in the middle of next week". The manager of Lanzarote Health Services has detailed that the samples will be sent to the Nuestra Señora de La Candelaria University Hospital of Tenerife for analysis. "It is a screening, they are not sick people, so it is not so necessary to give them in 24 hours as we do with patients with symptoms or close contact", said José Luis Aparicio.
The manager of Lanzarote Health Services has also explained that it will be the health personnel who contact the citizens to give them an appointment for the PCR. "Normally in this case of devices, the patients call us and we make appointments, but this has caused telephone blockages, with the consequent discomfort of the population, so in this case we will be the ones who call. If we do not call a patient, it will be because they have not updated their data, so they are in time to go to the health center to update it", he detailed.
Likewise, he indicated that "another innovation that is going to be done", given that he has recognized that sometimes there are "many problems with the negatives to try to inform them" of their result in a short time, is that on this occasion "they will be sent an SMS to inform them that they are negative".
On the other hand, the president of the Cabildo pointed out that a team from the Security and Emergency Consortium will go to the neighborhoods to "inform about the preventive measures and what is the reason why these people are going to be screened and sampled". In any case, María Dolores Corujo specified that undergoing the tests will be "voluntary", although she did indicate that "to the extent that there are positive cases, the health authority will intervene".
"We have to get out of this together and it depends on the responsibility of each one of us. I am convinced, I have no doubt, that people are exhausted and tired, and I know that they would love to receive much more flattering information, but we cannot under any circumstances lower our guard", said Corujo, who again made a call to individual responsibility to stop the spread of the virus on the island.
Samples in 55 control points of the island
For his part, the director of services of the company in charge of the 'Early Warning System for Covid 19', Juan Francisco Maestre, has explained the methodology carried out for the taking and analysis of wastewater samples, which he has pointed out is currently being carried out "in 55 points".
In this regard, he explained that although the initial approach was to take samples in 20 collectors on the island, subsequently "the control points have been expanded". "Depending on the results, it has been sub-sectorized, that is, more sampling has been carried out to reach more detail", he said.
In fact, he pointed out that this is what happened in the neighborhood of San Francisco Javier, where he stated that in a first analysis no coronavirus was detected, but that in a second sample taken it was and that "it increased a lot", so the decision was made to sub-sectorize it into four. Of these four areas, two have shown concentrations of Covid in the wastewater and are those in which the screening will be carried out, although it has not been specified which streets comprise the affected areas.
The Minister of Health of the Cabildo, Juan Manuel Sosa, made an appearance in the middle of the press conference and sat next to the journalists, from where he even asked a question to the head of the company, about whether the arrival of the flu could be "a problem" for the conclusions of this study of wastewater. "No, because the flu is not excreted, and we also detect three specific genes of SARS-CoV-2, so whatever the water carries, we only look for SARS-CoV-2", Juan Francisco Maestre replied.
