11.8% of Canarians refuse to use a mask, despite it being scientifically proven to reduce the possibility of contagion and is another challenge - probably the most effective until there is a vaccine - to control the epidemic. The situation, moreover, is not the same in both provinces. According to the final report of the Ene-Covid serological survey of the Ministry of Health, the population of Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura is more reluctant to use it (14.2% admit to not wearing it), while this percentage decreases in Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro (9.5%).
The situation, in any case, has improved in relation to previous weeks. According to the same report, in mid-May - at the same time that the use of masks became mandatory - three out of ten Canarians forgot it at home. The situation improved the following week, and by the beginning of June the percentage had already dropped to 15.6%. Throughout the period, the level of non-compliance has been higher in the province of Las Palmas than in that of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
More incidence in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. It should be remembered that the western province has been the most affected by the incidence of Covid-19. According to data from the Ministry of Health, 66% of the cases of coronavirus that have occurred in the Archipelago have been diagnosed in Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro. A total of 1,624 that accumulate in practically their entirety in Tenerife (1,506). The eastern province, for its part, has accumulated 783 cases of coronavirus so far, which represents 31% of the total.
Masks are key. "Masks are key to protecting ourselves and controlling, reducing the spread of the virus from person to person," says the virologist from the University of La Laguna (ULL). Agustín Valenzuela, who points out that "scientific studies demonstrate the usefulness of masks to protect both the general population and healthcare personnel, being a key tool for controlling outbreaks and the spread of the virus, from the first moment, and as Asian countries have demonstrated against SARS (2002-2003), MERS (2015) and H5N1 (various outbreaks)". In fact, last March, researchers from the University of Oxford, in an analysis published in the scientific journal The Lancet, insisted that "as evidence suggests that Covid-19 can be transmitted before there are symptoms, community transmission can be reduced if everyone, including people who have been infected but are asymptomatic and contagious, use masks." This theory is also supported by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), which states that "using masks in public can be a control resource to reduce the spread of infection in the community."
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