The General Directorate of Public Health of the Government of the Canary Islands has confirmed that the protocol for Covid-19 has been activated again in the Santa Rita Home in Puerto de la Cruzthe largest residence for the elderly Canary Islands“because of an outbreak that began two weeks ago and that, until this Tuesday, April 12, 2022, affected 51 residents and 20 workers». From the Regional Ministry of Health It is clarified that, at the moment, “all those affected, users and workers, have mild symptoms or are asymptomatic, although they are in isolation and with the corresponding follow-up.”
The positive cases follow an isolation protocol in the center, with the supervision of the General Directorate of Public Health of the regional government, “following the action protocol that has been developed throughout the pandemic with all the social health centers on the islands.” From Health consider that the current situation in the Santa Rita Home “It is different” from previous outbreaks “because they are asymptomatic and with mild symptoms, professionals are trained in the protocols to apply and Public Health monitors them.”
The Home Santa Rita, where around 500 elderly people and dependents live, suffered at the end of 2020 the impact of the hardest phase of the pandemic, an outbreak with more than 250 affected that cost the lives of 25 residents. At that time and due to the seriousness of the situation, the Canary Islands Government Health Department intervened in the center and took over its management for almost two months, under the coordination of personnel from the University Hospital of Our Lady of Candelaria (Hunsc). That intervention led to a complaint from the Prosecutor’s Office and a judicial procedure in the preliminary investigation phase, for which the managing director of the institution has already been summoned to testify as an investigator. Currently, the situation is not considered comparable to that of December 2020 and the possibility of a new health intervention is not contemplated.
The Regional Ministry of Health does not consider a new intervention of this residence
the regional deputy Miguel Angel Ponce (PP)a pulmonologist at the Doctor Negrín Hospital in Gran Canaria, warned this Tuesday through the social network Twitter that “outbreaks by Covid-19 in nursing homes are in clear rebound figures”, so it urges to maintain “caution” and face a “less abrupt and more prudent de-escalation”.
The Ministry of Health of the Government of the Canary Islandsin accordance with the new indicators included in the Covid-19 Surveillance and Control Strategy, agreed by the Ministry of Health with the autonomous communities, reported yesterday that since the last data update last Friday, 773 new positives have been registered in the Canary Islands among people over 60 years of age, “which is the population group that is followed up after passing the acute phase of the pandemic. The accumulated number of cases of coronavirus among this group amounts to 51,246 people in the Canary Islands.
The cumulative incidence as of April 11 for this age group at 14 days stands at 631.11 cases per 100,000 inhabitants and at 7 days at 287.29. Currently, in the Archipelago there are 280 people admitted with coronavirus, of which 27 are in the ICU and the rest, 253, on the ward. The Canary Islands registered 12 deaths in the last four days, of which six were reported in Tenerife, five in Gran Canaria and one in La Gomera. Health clarifies that “all the deceased, aged between 72 and 92 years, were hospitalized and had previous pathologies”.
