The spokesperson for the Canary Islands Government, Julio Pérez, has attributed the increase in Covid cases that is being recorded in the archipelago to the fact that positives detected with pharmacy self-tests are now also being added.
These self-diagnostic tests have been carried out for some time and especially since last Christmas, when the Health Department stopped tracking close contacts and testing anyone with symptoms. However, it has only recently been that the positives reported by citizens themselves have begun to be incorporated into the statistics.
In addition to pointing out that this is what has generated "a significant increase" in cases, the spokesperson commented that the reliability of these tests is "lower" than that of those performed in health centers, making their number "strikingly" higher.
Levels 2 and 3 with level 1 rules
Julio Pérez has thus justified that the archipelago continues to advance with the de-escalation, despite the rebound in cases that has been noted since last week. In this regard, he added that although the incidence indicators of infections remain high, Public Health reports indicate that they are losing importance in relation to healthcare pressure.
Thus, although the incidence remains high, the pressure on beds, both hospital and ICU, has a decreasing evolution. However, the spokesperson has acknowledged that pressure is maintained in Primary Care.
With the measures approved this Thursday in the Governing Council, all the islands will in practice have the measures that governed in alert level 1, although almost all are at level 3 and only Lanzarote and La Graciosa are at 2.
The Executive has been taking steps in that direction for three weeks now, and what it has now done is also eliminate the restriction on capacity, which will return to 100%, except on the islands that rise to level 4, which none are currently at.
This elimination of the capacity restriction affects interiors and exteriors, both in establishments for public use and in cultural and sports activities and in cultural activities.
However, dancing, parties, festivals and popular demonstrations are still not allowed.
