The hospitals of the islands of Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and El Hierro, the most affected by the new wave of coronavirus infections, have already implemented "one hundred percent of their respective contingency plans against Covid-19", approved since June by the Ministry of Health. According to the Canarian Government, "these measures are taken to adapt their facilities, their staff and the stock of material to the new care demands caused by the increase in positive cases."
This planning had already begun to be implemented on August 21, when the rebound in cases increased, and now it has been fully deployed in the islands where more than 100 cases per 100,000 inhabitants have been detected in the last seven days. In this case, Lanzarote and Gran Canaria were already there and now El Hierro has also joined.
The common measures taken in the SCS hospitals of these three islands involve a reduction in the transit of patients' relatives in health centers and the limitation in the hours and number of visits (1 hour a day and always the same companion), "restricting the accompaniment of patients in critical situations, especially at the end of their lives, guaranteeing the safety of families and professionals".
As for Primary Care, the role of case trackers has been "enhanced, freeing up professionals for full dedication and facilitating their replacement in their care tasks". In addition, scheduled and follow-up consultations in health programs are limited to those of patients at higher risk and home monitoring via telephone is prioritized for patients with mild lower respiratory tract infection who do not require hospital admission, "all in order to minimize patients' exposure to coronavirus".
On the other hand, the performance of spirometries, non-occlusive tests for the detection of amblyopia in minors and minor outpatient surgery, control retinographies, ITB/MAPA program (ankle-brachial index/blood pressure monitoring), scheduled electrocardiograms, non-urgent ultrasounds and cytologies are suspended, except in women at high risk.
"To all these measures are added the promotion of telephone consultation both in Primary and Specialized Care and the extension of the automation of pharmacological treatments through electronic prescription, as it has been done so far," they point out from the Ministry.
Incorporations in the Molina Orosa
The Doctor José Molina Orosa Hospital currently has a floor dedicated to the care of COVID-19 with 32 beds, with a part dedicated to confirmed cases and another to patients with suspected pathology, which will be referred in a few days to the surgery floor, which has 47 beds and is currently in the process of adaptation, so that the COVID-19 floor is only for confirmed cases.
Regarding the staff, the Hospital staff was reinforced at the time to meet the demand of the pandemic and a total of 109 workers have been incorporated. Currently, the incorporation of a specialist in Microbiology is being managed to reinforce the laboratory team that performs the PCR.
In Primary Care, in Lanzarote there are a total of 65 workers dedicated exclusively to Covid-19, and from today 10 physiotherapists, a social worker and an administrative worker are joining the staff to specifically carry out case tracking tasks.
Military trackers
On the other hand, the Ministry of Defense has notified that it will provide "immediately" the first 20 military trackers of those requested last Friday by the Ministry of Health to carry out case tracking tasks Covid-19 in the Canary Islands.
For these functions, the Ministry of Defense has selected health personnel or with health knowledge and with the necessary qualified training to increase the tracking capacity of possible positive cases in the autonomous communities.
