The Governing Council is meeting today to assess the measures that can be taken to reverse the worrying epidemiological situation in Tenerife. On the table will be the report made by the Public Health technicians of the Ministry of Health. Since the state of alarm was lifted on May 9th, Tenerife has had an increase in infections and incidence rates, which has not been seen in the other islands.
According to the Ministry of Health, the report does not invite optimism that the situation can be reversed in a short period of time since it has gone from a plateau to a marked rise. The Ministry does not point the finger at any particular responsibility for the situation, which they attribute to non-compliance in general of the public, due to a more dispersed population than in other islands which means more mobility.
This is supported by the number of outbreaks associated with family and social gatherings, pandemic fatigue (although having had enough of it, doesn’t mean it’s over), the possible relaxation of contagion prevention measures coinciding with the end of the state of alarm, or even the advance of the vaccination campaign that gives a false sense of security through the younger population (under 60) that it is over.
The Government will influence the reinforcement of the prevention measures in force on the island and will increase the immunization capacity in the island's population, and for this, since last weekend new vaccination centres have been opened such as the IASS building of the Hospital del Norte, the opening of the Buenavista Pavilion and the extension of hours and vaccination days in seven Health Centres on the island.
The professor of Microbiology, Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Antonio Sierra López, says he does not see other probable causes beyond the "irresponsible behaviour" of a part of society. “It is people’s behaviour that make these big differences like not wearing masks, ignoring social distancing, sitting together, hugging, kissing, dancing. We have all seen it on social media, you only have yourselves to blame.”
“Although the worst of the pandemic has passed and we are moving towards controlling infections, it is irresponsible behaviour that makes us regress. In Tenerife, it is not a problem of big gatherings in the street like those seen in Barcelona, although there are some smaller ones, but of family and social gatherings where businesses and the public are ignoring restrictions.”
“The measures adopted at level 2 in Gran Canaria and Tenerife were the same, but Gran Canaria has lowered its level, why, because of citizen behaviour.”
There have already been suggestions from Public Health that the only solution is to move Tenerife back in to Level 3, which no one wants, but is it the only option to bring down the rate of infection?
