The Canarian Health Council will today commence random COVID 19 tests on Lanzarote and other islands, as part of a national project to establish the extent of infection in Spain.
All over the world, experts agree that official figures of infection from the coronavirus do not reflect the real incidence of the disease. This is because many cases are never tested or because symptoms are so mild that the sufferer may not even suspect that they’re ill.
This is one of the reasons the World Health Organisation recommends testing programmes to establish the extent of the virus as a vital measure in combatting it and allowing countries to return to some kind of normality. Today, Spain will launch its own testing programme in line with this recommendation.
90,000 participants have been chosen randomly throughout Spain, and will be tested for presence of antibodies against COVID 19, which will show whether they have been exposed to the virus, and may also indicate a certain level of immunity. These results will provide a clearer picture of the overall prevalence of the virus in the community.
The tests will also be repeated in three and six weeks time, allowing researchers to trace changes over this period of time. The results will be available to the general public and will help health professionals tackle the pandemic as well give authorities information that may influence policy.
7,920 people will be tested in the Canaries, and 1,020 of those will take place on Lanzarote. Subjects will be contacted by their local health centre and participation is entirely voluntary, although health authorities have urged people to take part for the benefit of everyone.
Endesa discount
Endesa have pledged to give customers a 1º5% discount on their main electricity bill for April and May. The discount, however, will not be automatic and needs to be applied for online. More details, in English , are available here.
Latest statistics: 26th April , 20:00
Increase on previous day’s figures in brackets.
Total Canarian Cases: 2178 (+11)
Cases on Lanzarote: 84 (+0)
Deaths (Canaries): 131 (+0)
