Eleven days ago 96 men and women from the Municipal Institute of Social Attention in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, formally known as the Shelter, were relocated to a hotel in Costa Adeje after an outbreak amongst staff and two of the users of the centre. Now after staying in the Los Olivos Beach Resort, in Fañabé, Costa Adeje, 67 of them have tested positive for the coronavirus.
The 73 men and 23 women have been staying at the aparthotel since the 18th of this month after being transferred by two buses without being tested beforehand to know if they were infected with Covidor not, as reported by Ferrán, one of the users.
One person that tested positive has been admitted to hospital, while the rest are still staying at the complex, with two or three of them sharing an apartment, almost all asymptomatic. Only one of them, says Ferran, aged 82, has been fully vaccinated against the virus.
Users, such as Ferrán or Juan Luis, report that at they were attended to by Red Cross personnel, but that now the management is carried out by the Eulen company, and that this "leaves much to be desired", showing complaints about the scarce food, but above all, because "they won't even let us go out to buy clothes, unless we have a credit card," with some of them wearing the same clothes they arrived in 11 days ago!
Likewise, they claim that there is scant medical attention at the aparthotel, especially after the Red Cross is no longer present, although a SUC ambulance remains outside.
Another roommate of Ferrán also said that “every time we look out or go out on the terrace they insult us, calling us junkies or trash from Santa Cruz,” he says, while denouncing that “they hardly let us use the phones, I wish I could talk to my daughter. We are not animals, we are people”, he said.
For now, they are waiting for their next PCR test to find out if they can return to the shelter or not, regretting that "these tests were not carried out before moving us to the South, where they are holding us against our will." The shelter in Santa Cruz has been closed since the outbreak was discovered 11 days ago.
