The Auto-Covid drive in test centre at the Recinto Ferial will close tomorrow after conducting more than 100,000 Covid tests on islanders and visitors.
“Now that the pandemic is receding and the return to normality is complete, we could have just closed this place without any fuss,” said the Cabildo’s Emergency and Security Councillor, Marcus Bergaz “But that would not have been fair, because all of us who have any kind of responsibility for public health on the island are indebted to this service.” Bergaz went on to thank all health workers who have “fought against the pandemic with dedication and generosity.”
Once testing kits and equipment permitting analysis arrived on Lanzarote following the lockdown, testing was initially carried out at the Dr José Molina Orosa Hopsital. However, congestion in this area led to the setting up of the drive-in AutoCovid centre in October 2020.
Up to 28 health professionals (nurses, auxiliaries and porters) were employed at the test centre. The 20 who are currently on duty there will be redeployed to local health centres, which is where public Covid tests will be carried out in the future.
Noelía Umpiérrez, head of the lanzarote Health Area, and Juan Manuel Sosoa, the Cabildo’s Health Councillor, also praised the “huge efforts” made by health workers on the island, although both were careful to recommend that people continue to be careful, as “the pandemic is not yet over.”
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