Red Cross states that it has assisted 3,176 people in Lanzarote during the Covid-19 pandemic, carrying out more than 30,500 interventions on the island, in areas ranging from emergency or relief to health care, education, social inclusion, psychosocial support, the environment or improving access to employment.
In the area of Relief, the Red Cross highlights that, in collaboration with the Doctor José Molina Orosa Hospital, it facilitated the service of collecting medicines and delivering them to the homes of patients with chronic diseases. In addition, together with the firefighters of the Lanzarote Emergency Consortium and the Hospital, it set up a temporary tent in the hospital center to reinforce the assessment of patients with Covid-19 symptoms.
Likewise, the Red Cross has collaborated in the two shelters for homeless people set up by the Cabildo, located in the Sports City and in the pavilion of the IES Blas Cabrera Felipe. In these spaces, the NGO has assisted the users, who have received food, clothing, a space for rest and hygiene and 24-hour security. The Red Cross also highlights the work carried out in collaboration with the Drug Addiction Care Center (CAD).
Red Cross states that, in coordination with the Government of the Canary Islands, it has also carried out temperature checks on 66,182 people in the ports and airports of the island. In the province of Las Palmas, the total number of temperature checks carried out has been 280,568.
Likewise, in collaboration with different municipal entities, the Red Cross has distributed masks to the population; and has participated with the Cabildo, the Emergency Consortium and the Canarian Health Service in the realization of action protocols and referral of tourists in the event of possible Covid-19 cases. The NGO is also part of the deployment, together with the rest of the intervening organizations, to provide coverage in the event of the arrival at the airport of a person with positive symptoms.
Aid to 608 people and families
In terms of Health, the Red Cross states that it has made follow-up, information and accompaniment calls to more than 1,900 users of its projects, mainly to elderly people living alone and to members over 60 years of age, to monitor their health status and remind them of prevention tips, as well as to detect possible needs.
In the field of Social Inclusion, it points out that it has provided care to 608 people and families to cover their basic needs, through 886 deliveries of food, personal and household hygiene aid, financial benefits and payment of supplies.
Finally, in the field of Education, specifically in the program to Promote School Success, it points out that 53 deliveries of school supplies, tablets, toys and games, and teaching materials have been made to 45 boys and girls so that they can continue their training during confinement.
The response of the Red Cross in Lanzarote to the pandemic has been possible "thanks to the mobilization of more than 190 volunteers, who have dedicated 19,637 hours of voluntary action, in addition to the support of public and private entities", according to the NGO.
A total of 117,716 interventions in the province of Las Palmas
In the province as a whole, the Red Cross states that it has already assisted 58,441 people through 117,716 interventions during the Covid pandemic.
In this regard, it explains that it launched last March, as soon as the state of alarm was decreed, an "ambitious" response plan whose initial objective was to assist 1,350,000 vulnerable people in the face of the virus for two months. The Red Cross RESPONDS Plan against Covid-19 was the largest operation in its history in terms of mobilization of resources, capacities and people, according to the NGO.
Before the two months were up, the Red Cross states that the objectives were "widely" exceeded but, given the growing economic and social impact of this crisis and the foreseeable increase in precarious situations, it explains that it extended its initial call with the Red Cross Responds RECOVERY Plan, whose purpose was to assist 2,400,000 people, 27,000 in Las Palmas until next December.
