The Canary Islands Government Council has decided to keep Lanzarote at alert level 2 for another week, together with the island of Tenerife, which is by far the one with the worst indicators in the archipelago.
During the appearance after the meeting, the spokesman, Julio Pérez, acknowledged that “in Lanzarote the situation is not like that of Tenerife”, but added that “it is not enough to reduce its level either.”
According to the latest report from the Ministry of Health, the accumulated incidence at 7 days is this Thursday in Tenerife at 73.44 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, while in Lanzarote it is less than half, specifically 34.2. La Gomera is above, with 41.52, and slightly below Fuerteventura, with 30.9. In all four cases, it represents a situation of "medium risk", which covers a range of between 25 and 75 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. Just below is Gran Canaria, with an incidence at 7 days of 22.44.
Regarding hospital pressure, all the islands except Tenerife are at "minimum risk", both in terms of ICU occupancy and plant occupancy. Even the indicators of Fuerteventura are slightly above those of Lanzarote, both being within that "minimum risk".
In the case of the neighboring island, it will remain at alert level 1 together with Gran Canaria, La Gomera, La Palma and El Hierro.
Why are cases increasing in Tenerife
During the press conference, Julio Pérez dedicated most of his speech regarding the evolution of the pandemic to the island of Tenerife, explaining that the Health technicians have prepared a report to try to determine why the measures adopted are not working the same as on other islands. And it is that instead of decreasing, in the last two weeks the cases are increasing.
In this regard, he pointed out that this analysis has not yielded "conclusive results." "There is nothing that allows us to say: this is the cause," he said. However, among the data that this study has put on the table, he has referred to a possible "population factor", because proportionally there are more young people than on other islands, and also because the nuclei are more dispersed and they believe that this may encourage "greater mobility" and in turn "a greater increase in infections."
He also indicated that tracking "is a little less effective in Tenerife than on other islands." Thus, although he has defended that the number of trackers is the same on all the islands depending on the population, and also the training of these professionals, one of the objectives that have been set is to "improve the tracking capacity."
In addition, although it has not been proposed to introduce new measures on that island, it has announced that they will meet with the Cabildo and with the municipalities where there is a greater incidence, among which it has highlighted that of Granadilla, to "expand surveillance, inspection and sanction." In this case, he has also clarified that "it cannot be assured that the rules are not being followed" in Tenerife, but at the same time he has asked that "the degree of social and personal commitment to the current measures increase."
