The infected from the Islands double their social contacts in the fifth wave

In addition to the problem caused by increased social mobilityBecause it is leading to an increase in infections, trackers are encountering a particularly worrying barrier to locating those potentially affected by the virus. The younger population is not telling them the truth about the close contacts they maintain, so they cannot trace the connections between infections. "Many do not tell us who they have been with to prevent their friends from having to be quarantined for ten days," Rivero highlights. Who, in this sense, asks for the maximum collaboration of the population, in order to stop the chain of transmission of the virus. The tracker explains that there are patients who even ask them not to give their names, but when they start to "pull the thread" they end up fitting all the pieces together and linking shoots.

Young people do not reveal the name of their contacts to prevent them from doing the quarantine

"We live a kind of syndrome of the Unión Deportiva Las Palmas, we are celebrating the victory before winning the match," explains the tracker. Although the advance vaccination plan in the Canary Islands, it is still necessary to maintain health prevention measures, because vaccinated people can become infected and become a source of contagion. “We are facing a very symptomatic wave and people are associating the symptoms with the typical summer flu when, in reality, they are symptoms of covid and they continue leading a normal life, ”says Rivero.

The irresponsibilities that trackers have detected since the start of the health crisis are endless. From people who go to mass parties with symptoms, to families who do not cancel celebrations because they already had them organized, infected people who go out to do the shopping or who intend to travel outside their island. This type of infraction is considered a serious offense and may have penalties ranging between 3,001 euros and 60,000 euros. "We have heard of a person who presented himself for the driver's license being positive, because he already had the appointment," reveals Rivero, who details that the average age of the offenders is between 15 and 35 years.

"We have heard of an infected person who showed up for a driving license," reveals Rivero

"The population has to be aware that if they go to a party with 20 people and test positive, they not only have to track their contacts, but also the contacts that those 20 people have maintained during the last day," Rivero explains. When the Canary Islands Health Service (SCS) confirms a contagion, the work of the trackers begins, who have had to reinforce their teams with personnel from the Ministry of Defense, given the increase in infections. Not only do they talk to infected patients to try to cut the chain of transmission, but they also follow up with them and call them every 24 or 48 hours, according to the profile of the patient, to monitor their symptoms. “There are times when we call the infected and hear noise from outside. In these cases, we contact the local police who help us locate them, since over time we have worked on the creation of a small network to try to control everything, ”says Rivero.

According to the current protocol, people who have the complete vaccination regimen do not need isolation, but there is a PCR on the first day and another on the seventh, since its contagion capacity is not so high. However, remember the tracker, they are advised to take precautions and avoid going to places where there are crowds.