Tenerife rises to level 3 due to "uncontrolled, abrupt and rapid transmission" of the Covid

Tenerife enters from 00.00 this Saturday at alert level 3 against the covid-19 pandemic, due to a "community transmission" of the coronavirus "uncontrolled and on an abrupt and rapid rise," according to the report of the General Directorate of Public Health on which the regional government has relied.

This change in level occurs in a context of "relaxation" in compliance with preventive measuresAccording to Public Health, which asks the local authorities to reinforce the surveillance activity on compliance with the measures and the Canary Government a "more exhaustive" communication campaign.

The resolution of the Government of the Canary Islands that updates the prevention measures of the pandemic, appears published in the Official Gazette of the Canary Islands this Friday and coincides with the relaxation throughout Spain in the use of outdoor masks.

So Public health recommends that they continue to be used on the island of Tenerife the mask, because it is "a measure that has been shown to be useful in limiting the transmission of the virus between people."

The report of the General Directorate of Public Health on which the Executive has relied to raise the alert level in Tenerife, only island with level 3, confirmed a cumulative incidence of cases per 100,000 inhabitants of 95.74 in Tenerife two days ago.

According to the last update, of June 24, the incidence in Tenerife has risen to 102.2, compared to 17.77 cases in Gran Canaria, an island with a similar demographic and social pattern.

The Public Health report does not clarify the specific reasons for these differences in incidence between the two most populated islands, but he points out as one of the factors for a greater circulation of the virus that on May 2 it was lowered to level 2 without the decrease in incidence having stabilized at medium risk.

At that moment, the seven-day incidence was 60 cases, in the upper range of medium risk, and only eight days had passed since the high risk had been dropped, instead of the 14-day margin for rate stabilization.

All this happened "in a context of relaxation of the actions associated with the alert levels," acknowledges Public Health.

Conversely, In Gran Canaria, the alert was lowered to level 2 after the stabilization of rates at medium risk for fourteen days and with a seven-day incidence level of 37 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

The Public Health criterion is that the incidence in Tenerife is higher in the young population (under 45 years of age), but "cases are occurring in all areas", probably due to "the mobility and number of contacts of this sector of the population and that contributes to a greater spread of infection ".

The data indicate that in Tenerife there is "a very high territorial dispersion with a higher impact this week in the urban environments of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and La Laguna".

The Public Health authorities observe "high uncertainty about the evolution of the pandemic on the island" and about their pressure on health care, they indicate that for now there is an increase in income in conventional beds.

The report recognizes that the advance of vaccination "has had a very positive impact on the pressure of care and on the group of older people."

But vaccines and non-pharmacological measures "still do not show the desired effectiveness, probably due to the relaxation in their compliance that has not prevented the notable increase in incidence rates."

All this has led to Tenerife presents the indicators of cumulative incidence at a high risk level, with an increasing trend, at a high speed and with the risk level for the population aged 65 and over on the rise.

Public Health calls for an exhaustive communication campaign that reinforces the message about the importance and validity of non-pharmacological measures of the different communication teams of all sectors of the government.

The local authorities of the island are urged to reinforce the surveillance activity on compliance with the measures with a continuous presence and with an informative character.