Lanzarote and La Graciosa will remain at alert level 4 for Covid until March 4, according to the Ministry of Health of the Government of the Canary Islands through its Twitter account.
The last review was carried out last Sunday, after the additional restrictions due to Carnival ended, and the Canarian Government announced then that the situation of each island would be analyzed again the following Sunday. However, the Ministry of Health finally made the announcement this Thursday.
It so happens that since last Monday, Lanzarote met the indicators to drop to level 3. However, just on Wednesday, the incidence in people over 65 years of age returned to "very high risk", both in 7 and 14 days. In addition, there was also a rebound in the cumulative incidence at 7 days, which had dropped to "medium risk" on Monday and on Wednesday it was back to "high risk", with 29 new cases reported that day.
However, the indicators that were in the maximum risk zone on Wednesday were the two for incidence in the elderly and the hospital pressure in the ICU, which has been oscillating for days between the high risk and very high risk levels, depending on whether there is a new admission or discharge. And with three indicators at very high risk, the criteria agreed by the Interterritorial Council of Health establish that alert 4 must be set (or in this case maintained).
That would be the explanation for the fact that the Canarian Government has decided to extend that alert level in Lanzarote for another week, although for this they would have taken into account the indicators of Wednesday and not the latest ones updated on the afternoon of this Thursday. And it is that on this day, according to the detailed report of the Ministry of Health, Lanzarote again has only one indicator at maximum risk, specifically the occupancy in the ICU, which is at 27%, when "very high" risk is considered from 25%.
As for the incidence in the elderly, it has already dropped again, both in the accumulated 7 days and in the accumulated 14, and is this Thursday at "high risk", which corresponds to alert level 3. In addition, on this day the average cumulative incidence at 7 days had also been reduced again, which has dropped to 67.63 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, again placing it at "medium risk" (corresponding to level 2).
Of the eight indicators that are taken into account to establish the alert levels, Lanzarote had three at maximum risk on Wednesday (after two of them had risen on that same day), two at high risk and three at low risk. However, this Thursday it again has only one at maximum risk, three at high risk, one at medium risk and two at low risk, which would correspond to an alert level of 3.
In any case, the Canarian Government has already pointed out that these indicators are used as a reference and can be "modulated" depending on the circumstances. And in Lanzarote, the rebound in cases registered the previous day could also have weighed.