Tag: Covid19

Latest Gran Canaria News, Views & Sunshine

Centre-Right Pact Between Regionalists (CC) And Resident Conservatives (PPAV) Returns Marco Aurelio Perez As Southern Mayor

The conservative Partido Popular-Agrupación de Vecinos (PP-AV) and the right of centre regionalist Coalición Canaria (CC) have this Thursday signed a local government pact that will shape the future of the southern Gran Canaria tourism municipality of San Bartolomé de Tirajana. The alliance, dubbed a “Pact for Stability and Socioeconomic Progress of San Bartolomé Tirajana”, represents 60% of the votes cast in the municipality’s recent local elections, emphasised the  mayor-elect, Marco Aurelio Pérez (PP-AV), who returns for the third time to lead the local council responsible for some of the most important tourism areas on the island, including Maspalomas, Playa del Inglés and San Agustín.

 
 

 

Local Government Coalition Agreement Maspalomas and the South of Gran Canaria

A governing coalition pact has been finalised in San Bartolomé de Tirajana. The Popular Party–Agrupación de Vecinos (PP-AV) conservative residents party is to join forces with regionalist centre-right Coalición Canaria (CC) to govern the main tourist municipality on Gran Canaria for the next four years. Marco Aurelio Pérez will serve as mayor for the entire four-year term, and the Popular Party will take charge of Employment, Sports, Roads and Infrastructure, and Human Resources, among other areas. The regionalists, led by Alejandro Marichal, will oversee Urban Planning, Economy and Finance, and Tourism as their main departments.

 
 

 

Storm Óscar Latest: Government of the Canary Islands Declares Rain Alert for Western Islands and Gran Canaria

A storm system, dubbed Óscar, has formed over the last few days over the mid-north Atlantic, unusual for this time of year, and has led to concern from meteorologists and journalists as it passes south of the Azores, its tail should reach The Canary Islands, before the system heads northeast towards mainland Spain.  Advisory warnings have been issued in expectation of heavy rainfall, primarily in the Western Isles of the Canary Islands Archipelago, though some rainfall is also expected to reach Gran Canaria over the next couple of days.  It seems unlikely that any major consequences will stem from the bad weather, however these things can be unpredictable and so every precaution is taken to ensure people are informed and kept safe.

 
 

 

Foundation Investigated for Alleged Mismanagement of Public Funds Meant for Care of Unaccompanied Migrant Minors

The 7th Investigative Court of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria has opened a preliminary investigation into the Social Response Foundation Siglo XXI and four of its directors. The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office in Las Palmas filed a complaint against them, alleging crimes that could include forgery of commercial documents, mismanagement, and embezzlement of public funds. The investigation aims to determine whether this nonprofit organisation, and its officials, could have misused public funds intended for the care of unaccompanied migrant minors, during the migration crisis of 2020 that was precipitated by the pandemic confinement on the islands, leading to a build up of arrivals having to be assessed and cared for by the Canary Islands Regional Government, using hotels left empty due to the lack of tourism. The estimated amount involved in the alleged misuse stands at around €12.5 million between 2020 and 2022 on Gran Canaria alone.

 
 

 

Canary Islands Expect Rain and Potential Storm Weather Next Week

The Canary Islands are preparing for a change in the weather next week, as a significant increase in cloud is expected bringing higher probability of rain. The effects of a powerful storm forming in the Atlantic Ocean are likely to extend to the Canary Islands as well as neighbouring Madeira and The Azores.

 
 

 

Loading

Legal foreign residents, even without a Spanish health card, can register to get vaccine appointments

The Ministry of Health of the Government of the Canary Islands has announced that all foreign residents, legally registered in the Archipelago, who do not have a health card can now make appointments to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.  Many foreign residents with private healthcare had reported issues in participating in the vaccine roll out programme, this latest announcement should resolve the problems encountered.

 
 

 
#WeCrossMountains

To do this, they can go in person to their nearest health centre to update their contact information, by providing their registration certificate, that effectively confirms that they are residents of the Canary Islands, as well as their passport as their identification document. Once their data is registered in the Canary Islands Health Service (SCS) system, they will be scheduled for vaccination at one of the established vaccination points, always prioritising by age group.
Vaccination for people between 50 and 59 years oldThe Ministry of Health confirmed that vaccinations for group 9 (aged from 50 to 59 years old) has begun, in the areas that have already completed the vaccinations of those over 60. For this reason, people included in that group, between 50 and 59 years old, should wait to be called to receive their vaccine and in no case call the health centre or 012 directly just yet.
Currently, these appointments are being made directly from the individual health centres, as each of them manages its own agenda. Once each group is completed in each basic health area or island, so the next group should begin to receive calls for appointments.

?Los extranjeros residentes legalmente sin tarjeta sanitaria pueden acudir a los centros para ser citados para recibir la vacuna contra la #COVID19.
Para ello, deben acudir al centro de salud más cercano con su certificado de empadronamiento.
➡Más info:https://t.co/hmOVLUGCOR
— Sanidad Gobcan (@SanidadGobCan) May 13, 2021

FollowFollowFollowFollow

King Felipe VI of Spain will isolate for 10 days following COVID-19 close contact

King Felipe VI of Spain, 51, will have to stay in mandatory isolation for at least ten days after finding out on Monday that a person with whom he had close contact has tested positive for COVID-19. The royal household has had all the head of state’s official activities suspended, the Zarzuela palace has reported.

 
 

 

The Casa del Rey has clarified that Queen Letizia and her daughters, the Princess of Asturias and the Infanta Sofía, will be able to continue their activities as normal. Within the Royal Family, the Queen had already had to preventively isolate last March, having attended a ceremony with with Minister Irene Montero, who tested positive.
Yesterday the King chaired a meeting of the Scientific Council of the Elcano Royal Institute, partially telematic and partially in person at the El Pardo palace.
So far in Spain there have been more than 1.5 million cases of COVID-19 detected, the second highest number of infections after France, with in excess of 43,000 deaths, the third highest after France and Italy. Spain’s 14-day average decreased to 374 per 100,000 population as of Monday, compared to 530 during the first week of November, and have reported 26,000 new cases over the weekend, and more than 500 deaths.
A World Health Organization official told Swiss newspapers over the weekend that Europe is at risk of experiencing a third wave in 2021 if its leaders do not adjust their approach.

FollowFollowFollowFollow

Anti-mask protesters numbered less than active COVID-19 infections in Las Palmas

About a hundred anti-mask protesters gathered together this Sunday, August 16, by the sculpture of Alfredo Kraus, on the capital’s Las Canteras beach, demonstrating against what they see as the imposition of the mandatory use of masks, along with a range of other complaints and theories about the latest decisions by the governments of the Canary Islands and Spain to further restrict activities that are thought to favour the increasing numbers of coronavirus cases being detected daily across the country, such as obligations to socially distance and avoid crowds and nightclubs.
Shouting ‘Freedom’ and ‘We want to breathe’ among other slogans, protesters made as much noise as they could to express their anger at what they see as over-reactions and draconian measures not just from regional and national government, but from governments across the world, who many of them claimed were simply promoting the manufacture of vaccines.  The overwhelming fear among those present was the ushering in of a new world order on the premise of a virus they believe to be less dangerous than the flu.
What was evident yesterday was the near total lack of support from Las Palmas for the ideas behind the protest, centered around conspiracy theories and anti-establishment rhetoric.  There did not appear to be any epidemiological researchers, doctors or nurses present. Though National Police did intervene, checking identities and collecting evidence after some incidents were reported.
Yesterday’s anti-mask protest was in support of a larger manifestation in Madrid, which drew 2,500 protesters according to some estimates.  The hashtag #Subnormales began trending throughout Spain as other members of the population began to express their own anger at the gatherings, which did not respect any of the guidelines set out by the regional parliaments and the government of Spain, based on epidemiological advice.
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria is currently the epicenter of new coronavirus cases in the Canary Islands, with 503 confirmed infected, from yesterday’s data, and a total of 1,051 active cases throughout the Archipelago.
Some medical professionals took to the ‘one fingered salute’ on social networks to thank the protesters for their insights.

FollowFollowFollowFollow

The Canary News

For the first time in two months Canary Islands have reported no corona virus deaths for 5 days running

The latest figures from The Canary Islands
Thankfully, the death toll, related to this initial wave of Covid19, here in The Canary Islands, remained until this Sunday morning at just 151 individuals since last Monday May 11. The number detected and diagnosed throughout the archipelago rose a little further on Friday to 2,289 according to the latest data from the Canary Islands Government Ministry of Health, updated at 8:00 p.m. this Saturday, which shows that we have detected 106 people with coronavirus for every 100,000 of the Canary Islands population, currently 0.106% of the 2,153,389 people who live in the archipelago.

*UPDATE: As of 14:01 this Sunday afternoon, there have been two more deaths reported and the total accumulated infections detected stands at 2289
The good news is that this has been the longest prolonged period without deaths from coronaviruses for two months, since fatalities began being recorded back on March 13, the day before Spain’s ongoing State of Emergency was declared.

There have been commentators suggesting that the R-infection rate may be starting to rise once again here on the islands, but there is as of yet no direct nor official clinical evidence of this.  The next week of statistics will tell us more, either way.

The two methods used for counting case number declarations differ slightly, between where the cases have been detected, the number we try to follow, and where on the islands the patients’ health cards are currently registered, and there are also occasionally small corrections made to anomalies found in the data, but overall the current situation for the islands looks very good.

 

Coronavirus in Canary IslandsEvolution of accumulated number of detected infections (in blue – from 1 to 2,289), deaths (in red – from 1 to 151) and recovered (in orange – from 1 to 1,523). In yellow, remaining active cases.
 
This Saturday the number shown to have recovered from coronavirus on the Canary Islands stands at 1,523, which is to say 2/3 of all diagnosed cases. 615 cases are still active.

Counting each case detected by island, as of Saturday May 16, Tenerife has accumulated the vast majority at 1,538, 106 deaths, 919 recovered and 513 patients still active; Gran Canaria follows with 565 diagnosed, 37 deceased, 451 discharged and 77 still sick; La Palma has 80 diagnosed, three deceased, 61 discharged and 16 still active; Lanzarote, 74 diagnosed, five deceased, 62 discharges and seven still ill. Fuerteventura has 24 diagnosed, 22 discharged and two sick, no dead; La Gomera, seven diagnosed and seven discharged having all recovered; and El Hierro, one person diagnosed who has already recovered and been discharged.

The rest of the known data comes from Friday May 15 statistics, which indicate that there are also 301 cases that have been identified by Canary Islands Health Service professionals, under a new addition to the protocols, that are suspected as being possibly related to Covid-19.  The new criteria asks doctors to identify “anyone with a clinical presentation of sudden onset acute respiratory infection of any severity, [which include symptoms] among others, such as fever, cough or feeling a shortness of breath.”

Over the last two months, 586 health professionals have been diagnosed with Corona Virus, representing about 25% of all cases registered in the Canary Islands since the start of the pandemic. They, in turn, represent 1.89% of total staff working in the Canary Islands Health Service.
 

Coronavirus in Canary Islands,Evolution detected infections (in blue), deaths (in red) and recovered (in orange)
According to data up until Friday, a total of 939 people had been hospitalised, one on the day, and 178 have had to be treated in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit), with no new ICU admissions over the last week, and only two new admissions to the ICU eight days ago.

Looking at the latest data up until Wednesday last, May 13, 106,408 PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) tests for the diagnosis of active Covid-19 had been carried out, on a total of 85,759 people.

Lastly, looking at the demographic distribution of the 151 deceased, the largest group is those between the ages of 80 & 89 years, with 53 deaths, followed by 44 aged 70-79; 20 dead aged 60-69; 18 dead over the age of 90; nine aged 50-59; four aged 30-39; and three dead who were in their 40s.

The Canary News

FollowFollowFollowFollow

Mogán suspends carnival events and markets to prevent coronavirus COVID-19

The town hall of Mogán, following the measures of the Government of the Canary Islands to prevent the spread of the coronavirus COVID-19, has suspended the events of the Carnival Costa Mogán 2020, the Carnival of Barrios in Playa de Mogán and the municipal markets.
One of the indications of the Canary Islands Executive is the suspension of mass events of sports, social or cultural nature for the next three weeks. For the Mogan government, prevention of the spread of the coronavirus comes first, and for this reason they have canceled the events of the Costa Mogán 2020 Carnival scheduled for March 17-22, the Barrios de Mogán Carnival on March 28 and 29 and municipal markets in Arguineguín, Puerto Rico and Playa de Mogán until April.

The Canary Government insists that all events with crowds of more than 1,000 people are prohibited

The President of the Canary Islands, Ángel Víctor Torres, insisted today, Thursday, March 12, that the order of the Minister of Health of the Autonomous Government, Teresa Cruz, signed yesterday, Wednesday 11, establishes with complete clarity and legal legitimacy that on the islands all sporting, cultural and social events, both in bounded and unbounded spaces, involving crowds of people over 1,000 are banned or suspended and also stressed that this measure to protect public health, is being applied urgently to avoid The spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus in the Autonomous Community and so is, therefore, mandatory for all public administrations and any private entity.
Apart from these considerations, which the head of the Canarian Executive wanted to make clear today, Torres announced that this same day a complementary Health order will be signed so that acts with the presence of less than 1,000 people, in limited or unbounded spaces, also may be prohibited or suspended by local administrations on condition that they are communicated to the Canary Islands Government. This measure reinforces those already adopted according to the order of the Minister of Health issued on March 11, 2020.
This new measure responds to the need for municipalities and councils, within their powers in the preservation of public health, to act to benefit the containment of possible infections by COVID-19.
Along with these two issues, the President of the Canary Islands confirmed the measures adopted yesterday to curb the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus in the Islands, among which the following are very important:

Suspension of school trips outside the Canary Islands for two months.
Symptom monitoring for 14 days for students from other autonomous communities or from Erasmus programs in countries with risk areas.
Restriction of visits to hospitals.
Suspension of activity in clubs and social centers for the elderly for 14 days.
Restriction of visits to nursing homes and social health centers.
COVID-19 information lines
As is known, the Ministry of Health maintains a toll-free telephone line (900 112 061) from which a Nursing team, under the coordination of the Canary Emergency Service (SUC), attends to requests for information from citizens on measures of prevention, possibilities of contagion and false concepts related to the coronavirus COVID-19.

In addition, the Ministry of Health reminds everyone of the importance of anyone who considers that they may have symptoms related to the coronavirus (cough, sore throat, fever and feeling of shortness of breath), or have returned in the last 14 days from any of the risk areas or have any relation to someone who comes from these points, contact the 1-1-2 service, in order to avoid going directly to the Primary Care centres or hospital emergencies facilities. Through this route, the extraction of samples will be managed in the home, if it is medically necessary. In any case, the population is asked to use this health resource rationally and only when the aforementioned conditions are me

Maspalomas suspends all markets for a period of fifteen calendar days

The town hall of San Bartolomé de Tirajana suspends the activities of the Municipal Market of Maspalomas, the second market “rastro” and the Farmers’ Market. The suspension will operate, in principle, for a period of fifteen calendar days.
In compliance with the Order of the Ministry of Health of the Government of the Canary Islands and having seen the opinion of the municipal technicians linked to this service, the City of San Bartolomé de Tirajana has suspended all markets, usually held in San Fernando de Maspalomas and in which there is a significant concentration of workers and customers. Specifically, the activities of the Local Market on Wednesdays and Saturdays, the Rastro second hand market on Sundays and the Farmers’ Market on a biweekly basis are prevented for a period of fifteen calendar days, counted from today.
The measure, taken by this Department of Markets, is made in compliance with the Law, for the protection of risks to the health of people in massively crowded spaces and to avoid collective damages that, today, cannot be quantified.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, and aware of the social and economic reality of the professionals who work in the markets, the solidarity of the San Bartolomé de Tirajana City Council is expressed with the small businessmen, the self-employed and workers who, due to this and other necessary measures , suffer serious losses in their precarious family economies and, therefore:
a.- It will process the corresponding administrative files in order to exempt the holders of the market stalls under municipal control from paying the public price for occupying municipal land for a reasonable period of time.
b.- It will seek, to the extent of its possibilities, the support and understanding of the autonomous and state authorities to lighten the tax burden of these self-employed during the duration of the serious health crisis that affects us and prevents the normal development of the way of life of the stalls.
c.- It undertakes to diligently restore the normality of the service, as soon as it has the approval of the health authorities of the Autonomous Community

Loading