Catalonia turns to the search for the asymptomatic

• Coronavirus. The Generalitat starts its containment plan in Ripollet with door-to-door PCR tests
• Live.Coronavirus today, last minute

It is eleven o'clock in the morning and about 150 people wait patiently for their turn to perform a PCR test in the Maria Regordosa Park in Ripollet. This is one of the three tents that the Health Department of the Generalitat of Catalonia has set up, together with those of Tarrasa and Sabadell, to try to identify asymptomatic patients from Covid-19 and thus curb the contagion curve. The tents will be installed until next Saturday.

It is a sunny day and although the trees in the park offer some shade, the heat tightens and makes not everyone in the best possible mood. "This initiative seems very good to me but not as much as they are organizing it, we are going through a lot of heat" explains Juan Luis Lalanza, one of the youngest who is taking turns for the tests and who has come because his partner is from Ripollet. Yolanda Vadillo also expresses herself . "I think the tent initiative is very good, but everything is very poorly organized."

Some of the people waiting their turn have been in line for up to four hours. Small computer problems have delayed the entire process. This is the case of Juan Villalba, who despite everything comes out smiling after the test. "I found out on the radio three days ago. Since seven-thirty I'm here and see what time I leave. The test went well, a bit of annoyance, like tickling, but nothing serious. It is something that they would have what to do to everyone, especially to young people who are the ones that move the most ".

That was precisely the intention of the Health Department, to locate asymptomatic patients among the youngest. But in the queue you can see people of all ages, like Manuel Hernández, 75, another of the early risers. "We have been waiting four hours. I don't have any symptoms, but I have a granddaughter and I want to be calmer, that's why I came to do the test. It was good, a little annoyance, but nothing serious."

Many asymptomatic and responsibility

Almost everyone who is waiting to be tested has not had any symptoms that make them suspect that they may be infected with SARS-CoV-2, but have decided to come anyway. "I have come because of responsibility. I live in one of the streets where one of the outbreaks has been detected and that is why I am here" explains Miguel Galvarro. "We saw online that there was an outbreak here in Ripollet and that one of the streets was ours and that is why we have decided to do the test" adds Yolanda Vadillo.

Some want to clear doubts for an upcoming vacation. This is the case of Pedro Bélmez. "I don't have any symptoms, but on Monday we go to a rural house with the whole family and we want to make sure that we are not infected." "We have a trip to Cádiz and we knew that there was an outbreak. In order to travel safely and not infect our family from there we thought it was better to take the test and that is why we are here" adds Laura Gutiérrez.

Restless but not because of the virus

Despite the declaration of the outbreak in Ripollet, the vast majority of people who came to the test during the morning were not uneasy. "We are worried, yes, but not uneasy" explains Pedro Bélmez. Sindo Paz, for his part, explained that his fears were not so closely related to COVID-19. "I am uneasy but not because of the outbreak, rather because of the whole situation that this has ended up generating, due to the economic consequences." Laura Gutiérrez expresses herself in a similar way. "We are not particularly uneasy about the coronavirus outbreak, we are more concerned with this whole situation that has occurred." "I am not afraid of the virus, but because someone is out of a job. That is what worries me the most now" adds Juan Villalba.

In search of the asymptomatic

In the municipality of Ripollet, where localized cases have been detected in the Pont Vell and Tiana neighborhoods, two areas that are particularly conflictive due to their social characteristics, a door-to-door search has also begun, with more than 300 tests to locate all asymptomatic.

This tracking campaign together with the tent installed in the Maria Regordosa park and the two that are in T arraa and Sabadell are a more proactive approach to search for the asymptomatic, who continue to socialize with friends and family and can facilitate the spread of virus. It should be borne in mind that right now in Catalonia about 50 percent of the cases detected are precisely from asymptomatic people.

Visits to residential centers for older people suspended

In addition to these measures taken for the detection of asymptomatic people, the Generalitat Health Department has also decided to suspend visits, admissions and short-term and weekend departures from residential centers for the elderly in the Montsià regions. , Baix Ebre and the Ribera del Ebro and the municipalities of Ripollet, Tarrasa and Sabadell due to the appearance of coronavirus outbreaks in these parts of the territory.

However, the management of each center has the possibility of allowing short-term outings in exceptional cases, accompanied by caregivers and staff from the residential centers. In these cases, upon return to the center it will be necessary to apply protection measures as if it were a new admission, that is, the obligation to carry out a PCR test and isolation for 14 days. For this, it will be necessary to sign a declaration document responsible for the resident or the relative who takes charge.

In any case, visits will be allowed in cases of emergency or justified need, thus preserving the right to accompaniment. Stable coexistence units of between 15 and 20 residents, with separation between them, will also be created in the residential centers for the development of group activities and outings to the exterior equipment of the residences. It has also been decided to suspend the activity of the day centers for the elderly.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

• Catalonia
• Coronavirus
• Covid 19

SpainThe list of countries that restricts traveling to Spain due to regrowth increases

GermanyA denialist march in Berlin proclaims the end of the pandemic in full rebound

Covid-19Euskadi continues adding new cases of coronavirus with 111 new positives, 67 of them in Bizkaia

See links of interest

• News
• Translator
• Programming
• Calendar
• Horoscope
• Classification
• Films
• Cut notes
• Themes

• Seville - Rome
• Bayer 04 Leverkusen - Rangers
• Basel - Eintracht Frankfurt
• Wolverhampton Wanderers - Olympiakos