Isha Sesay
DOCTORS in Mallorca have asked for a two week home confinement to be enforced due to a surge in admissions in hospitals.
Led by Doctor Jordi Reina, a virologist at Son Espases Hospital, the group has warned of a collapse in the island’s health system.
Reina said: “The population should be confined for two or three weeks to allow the health system to recover and reduce the spread of coronavirus.”
This plea is backed by the Balearic Medical Union who said a ‘short, restrictive home confinement of about two weeks’ would be ‘absolutely necessary’.
Union president Miguel Lazaro said that hospitals are now at breaking point due to a lack of available beds for coronavirus admissions and a shortage in medical staff.
“At present, there are more than 100 doctors under active surveillance for COVID-19 and who are therefore unable to work,” said Lazaro.
The president of the College for Doctors, Jose Manuel Valverde, also weighed in on the matter in an interview with Ultima Hora, asking for more help from the Balearic government.
He said: “New ICU beds have to be created because the pressure is enormous and the number of deaths is very high.”
Yesterday, the Balearics saw the blackest day for deaths in the region with 11 people losing their lives from COVID-19 in 24 hours.
This is the highest number of fatalities recorded in a single day since the start of the pandemic and brings the total number of deaths to 528.
Moreover, in Son Espases, more than 90% of ICU beds reserved for COVID-19 patients are currently occupied.
Meanwhile, the Balearic government is set to bring the curfew forward by two hours if given the power to do so by the Spanish government.
President Francina Armengol said the 8pm curfew would first be introduced on the islands with the highest incidence of contagion, first coming into force in Ibiza and Mallorca.
