The Canary Islands do not rule out reintroducing the use of masks indoors

The negative evolution of the coronavirus in recent weeks in the Canary Islands, the whole of Spain, and other countries, is clearly being seen in the resurgence of the number of infections, and that increase is now translating into more hospital admissions, increasing pressure on the hospitals and the health service.

On Friday, the Ministry of Health for Spain ‘recommended’ increased use of masks to protect the vulnerable and stop the spread of the virus, adding they would impose more restrictions if necessary.

The Canary Islands have said they will not bring restrictions back, unless it is absolutely necessary, that affect commercial activity and alert levels (eg capacity restrictions, closing times etc), but have said they will bring back the use of masks indoors.

The Head of the Epidemiology Section of the General Directorate of Public Health for the Canary Islands Government, Amós García, asked people to remain ‘calm’ yesterday in the face of the increase in cases, especially as many Canarians live in the same house as their parents and grandparents who are the most vulnerable section of society.

However, he also warned that people should not “fall into complacency” because the virus is still there, and it is necessary to continue “maintaining certain restrictions and care”. However, he did not rule out the need to "take measures" again, to protect the elderly and vulnerable, and warned that they “will bring back the use of masks indoors if the situation does not improve."

Garcia made people aware that they know that new variants are less virulent, even though they are more transmissible, but the effect on hospitals is the key.

“More people are catching the virus, which is leading to more hospital admissions, which will ultimately lead to us having to make the difficult decision of implementing more restrictions if necessary. Vaccination has all but come to a standstill, but still remains the main way of protecting yourself, and others, against serious illness from Covid. For these reasons we urge you to get vaccinated or have a booster if you have not yet done so, as lack of data is no longer an argument against having one.”

Finally, García sent an optimistic message by assuring that “the situation is much better than in the first waves. Currently, the ‘sea’ where these pandemic waves are taking place is much calmer than before when it was in full storm. However, this does not mean that it is over, it is not, but the situation is much better.”

Lastly, we receive emails and messages here at Canarian Weekly, asking why we only publish articles from the Ministry of Health, and not from other sources that invalidate the use of masks. The answer is simple, we have published those articles before during the pandemic to give both sides, so it is old news.

We are informing you what is happening within the country from the department that decides what restrictions are implemented or lifted and affect our day-to-day lives, depending on the epidemiological situation in the country you have chosen to live in.