Edition 644

Page 1

Edited by Seven Islands Media Group S.L.U. Also distributed in Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote

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THE INDEPENDENT ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER WITH LOCAL, NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL NEWS

FRIDAY 7th FEBRUARY TO THURSDAY 20th FEBRUARY 2020

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EDITION 644

FORTNIGHTLY SUPPLEMENT INSIDE

PAGES 41 - 48

CORONAVIRUS

CASE IN THE CANARIES: ALL IS UNDER CONTROL, SAY HEALTH CHIEFS

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OVERNMENT and health leaders in the Canary Islands have issued a “keep calm” message after the shock news that the first person to be diagnosed with the global coronavirus in Spain is a holidaymaker in La Gomera. They say they have all the resources and expertise necessary to deal with the incident or any future cases which might or might not arise. They have also stressed that the treatment of the German man with the virus is totally under control, as is the quarantine of his five companions who, at the time of going to press, have shown no signs of illness. In fact, the coronavirus patient himself hasn’t got any symptoms even though he was tested positive. All are men of German nationality aged between 30 and 50. Tests on the others show they are so far negative. Officials have also traced everyone who was in contact with the German man and “all the correct protocols” are being carried out. There are about 20 people from Tenerife and La Gomera who made mild contact and a watchful eye is being kept on them but they are not confined and are said to be at low risk. The men didn’t walk about on the ferry and used a rental car, not public transport. The group arrived on La

Gomera on Januar y 28th, having travelled by ferry from Tenerife where they flew in by air from the Bavaria region. The Ministry of Health has set up a freephone hotline on 900 112 061 to answer any questions related to the coronavirus. The German man and his friends were on holiday in La Gomera, staying in rented accommodation in the picturesque village of Hermigua which is is an isolated location in a valley in the north of the island and about 25 km from Sam Sebastian. It is understood he had been in contact with another German who had attended a medical conference in Bavaria where a Chinese woman had given a talk. She had not realised before she left her country that her parents, living in Wuhan which is at the centre of the epidemic, had contracted coronavirus. Health officials visited the rented house in Hermigua and five of the German tourists were taken to the local hospital for quarantine, the sixth being allowed to stay in the property.

Minister of Health of the Government of the Canary Islands, Teresa Cruz, and the head of Epidemiology of the General Directorate of Public Health, Domingo Núñez, in La Gomera One of them was tested positive on January 31st, the first confirmation in Spain. The German man does not have a cough or fever. This week, second tests will be carried out on both the positive and negative cases. Quarantine is usually two weeks. Hermigua’s claim to fame is having “the best clean air in Europe” so locals were very fed-up to have been thrust into the news for the wrong reason and expressed the hope that tourists would not be deterred from coming to La Gomera. So far, it seems people are not being put off with it being “business as normal” for the ferries and cruise liners, though some have packed masks just in case. Many visitors are British.

The same message was relayed by Government and Cabildo leaders who said they regarded the coronavirus confirmation as “an isolated incident” and assured there was no need for any sort of panic or concerns. One doctor said people actually had more to fear from the flu virus which

to date has claimed at least eleven lives in the Canaries this winter. President of the Canar y Islands Government, Ángel Víctor Torres said all measures were in place to deal with the coronavirus and protocols were working correctly at all levels, with everything under

control. Head of Epidemiology of the Canary Islands Health Service, Domingo Núñez echoed the message of tranquility, saying they believed this is an isolated case and the German man was showing no signs of being ill.


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Edition 644 by Tenerife News - Issuu