The President of the Canary Islands, Ángel Víctor Torres, has said this morning, Friday, that he has not yet considered requesting a state of alarm in the islands because there is still time to bend the contagion curve before that is necessary, so they will reinforce security measures and the imposition of sanctions instead. However, if people don’t comply with regulations they will have no option.
In a press conference held after the meeting of the Security Board in the face of the rise in infections in the archipelago, especially in Tenerife, he said that the activity of the different police forces will be “redoubled” to deal with the “botellons, clandestine parties, house parties, and breaches in bars and restaurants” starting this weekend and continuing throughout the month of July.
In addition, it has opened the door to close some beaches or implement access restrictions since they are places of many concentrations of people without respecting distancing regulations.
Torres has pointed out that requesting the state of alarm for the islands "is not on the table yet" because there is still time to correct the current trend, although he has admitted that if the incidence of the pandemic does not decrease in early August, they will have no choice.
The Canarian president, who appeared together with his counterpart in the Tenerife Cabildo, Pedro Martín, asked again for "responsibility of the citizens of Tenerife", especially to young people, given that they are the group most affected by the new infections.
"People are playing with their health, the economy of the islands, their futures, and they don’t seem to realise it. Young people are not immune," he said, underlining that since April, a total of 47 people under 39 have been hospitalized, with 5 in the Intensive Care Units (ICU) and 3 have died from the virus.
“With the levels, we are at and countries advising against sending tourists, we are all responsible. Please respect the rules so we can achieve 70% immunisation through vaccination by the end of July, and bring down the Covid levels. If not, it can lead us to complete bankruptcy,” he concluded.
