The population of Tenerife and Gran Canaria can meet with ten people on the appointed dates of Christmas. The Government of the Canary Islands has opened its hand with respect to the initial forecasts – by the entrance in force of level 3 on both islands-, which foresaw that during all the Christmas holidays the maximum number for groups would be 6 people. This was announced yesterday by the Ministry of Health, on a day in which eight deaths were found in Tenerife, the highest figure since January.
The flexibility of the meetings will only be allowed during the designated holidays, that is, December 24, 25 and 31 and January 1 and 6. This was advanced by the President of the Government of the Canary Islands, Angel Victor Torres, who stressed that these measures will be taken in the next Governing Council because “the pressure for assistance is lower” than in June, despite having more positive cases. “And we owe that to vaccination,” he insisted. At the moment, in the Canary Islands there are 324 people hospitalized, of which 57 are in critical condition. The island with the most hospitalized is Tenerife (180) followed by Gran Canaria (128). However, the percentage of ICU admissions with respect to the total number of patients is higher in Gran Canaria (22% compared to 11% in Tenerife).
But if there is something that worried about the epidemiological situation yesterday, it was the number of deaths that have occurred. A total of eight people died in the Canary Islands yesterday due to complications from covid-19, which is the highest number since January 24. All deaths have occurred on the island of Tenerife, which has already accumulated 612 since the pandemic began. These are four women and four men, aged between 63 and 91 years and all, except for one man, suffered from previous pathologies.
The level 3 rules have also changed for establishments that carry out essential activities and pharmacies, which will be able to have interior capacities much higher than the rest. In this way, the new Health Order published in the Official Gazette of the Canary Islands (BOC), establishes that in levels 2 and 3 of health alert the maximum capacity in closed spaces in commercial retail food establishments will be set at 75% , beverages, products and essential goods that are not considered large commercial establishments, as well as pharmaceutical establishments. However, establishments must guarantee adequate ventilation or air renewal.
This authorization is temporary and will take effect from 00:00 hours on Saturday December 18 until 24:00 hours on January 31, 2022, without prejudice to the possibility of extension depending on the evolution of the epidemiological situation or other circumstances that justify it.
Tenerife brings together almost 70% of the day’s infections throughout the Archipelago with 1,149 positives
The rest of the rules remain the same, therefore, from today and for at least 15 days – without prejudice to its extension – on both islands it is only possible to stay in groups made up of a maximum of six people (except on specified dates). It will limit the closing hours of the establishments to 2:00 in the morning as a maximum and the practice of non-federated physical and sports activity in sports facilities and centers will have a public capacity of 50% in the open air and 33% indoors, in groups of up to six people.
On the other hand, Health is preparing a judicial request to make the request for a covid certificate mandatory. Meanwhile, the current regulations that allow establishments and events to request it voluntarily remain in force in order to expand their capacity and hours as established in the lower level.
While the Government finishes finalizing the details of the new levels 2 and 3 (which entered into force last night), the sixth wave continues to grow at an exponential rate. The Canary Islands again beat a new record for infections yesterday, their third in a week.
A total of 1,670 cases registered the Archipelago yesterday, of which 1,149 (68.8% of the total) were diagnosed on the island of Tenerife. In this way, the island already quadruples its contagion curve and maintains a growing and “worrying” trend according to the Government of the Canary Islands. Gran Canaria, for its part, added 358 new cases, which means that it grows 65% in relation to the previous week. Although its growth is much lower than that of Tenerife, it is one of the fastest increases it has experienced since the pandemic began.
Health increases the internal capacity of pharmacies and essential activities to 75%
The other islands also maintain a sustained increase in cases, among which El Hierro stands out, which has tripled its cases compared to the previous week (from 5 a week to 15). The second most notable increase this week is that of Lanzarote, which grew by 87% (going from accumulating 157 cases the previous week to 294 this week). For its part, La Palma has increased its cases by 69% and Fuerteventura, which is the one that has been at level 3 the longest, is the one that has grown the least, by 28%. La Gomera is the only island in which there is a decline in cases.
