Mallorca's macro covid outbreak spreads: more than 700 positive cases and eight communities affected
The Balearic Government has opened proceedings against the organisers of the Reggaeton Beach Festival in Palma and is launching a search for cases
Palma / BarcelonaThe macro outbreak originated in Mallorca by different end-of-year trips of young people from all over the State could reach 800 cases in the coming hours, while waiting for information from the eight autonomous communities affected. According to the latest news, the Community of Madrid, Castilla-La Mancha, Galicia and Catalonia have reported new cases of coronavirus linked to outbreaks connected to these trips to Mallorca. The total number of positive cases among students now exceeds 700 in eight regions. The Balearic Government has announced that it has opened proceedings against the organisers of the Reggaeton Beach Festival concert in Palma's bullring and is investigating nine hotels for outbreaks linked to end-of-year trips.
The outbreak in Mallorca is the one that has led to more contagions in Catalonia. This Sunday the Department of Health has notified a score of new cases, which raise the number of infected students to a total of 64. There are 20 cases more than Saturday, asymptomatic or with few symptoms, and all are close contacts who have tested positive in the tests within the general study of the outbreak. In this sense, the manager of the Public Health Agency of Barcelona, Carme Borrell, has assured in statements to RAC1 that cases linked to end-of-year trips and parties have doubled the positives of Barcelona in a week and has asked the Balearic Government to act before the "macro meetings".
Meanwhile, the Community of Madrid has already counted 363 cases; Galicia has 70; the Basque Country, 126; Valencia, 67; Murcia, 20; Castilla-La Mancha, 11, and Aragon, 10. 731 cases have been found so far. The communities, however, expect to find more.
Isolated students
The Balearic Government promoted this Saturday a massive search to locate possible cases related to the mega outbreak, which had as main focus of contagion Reggaeton Beach Festival and parties on the coast of s'Arenal de Llucmajor. The executive said that the 268 young people who are currently in Mallorca could have had direct or indirect contact with any of the positives that have been recorded in recent days in different communities and has already begun to move the children who have permission from their parents to the hotel Palma Bellver, which is intended to accommodate tourists who may have been direct contacts of infected people.
To all this, it must be added that 476 young Andalusians are currently in isolation after making end-of-year trips to Mallorca. This Friday, they began to be tested. It should be remembered that the Health Ministry's alert committee agreed on Thursday that those people who are making or have made end-of-year trips to Mallorca should be considered "close contacts", after the contagions detected in the last few hours.
"It has to be investigated"
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, asked on Saturday for "prudence" in an event that took place in Logroño. On the macro covid outbreak originated in Mallorca, the minister insisted that "it has to be investigated". "We are not in a position to celebrate anything in a multitudinous way, the virus continues to be among us", Maroto warned.
In addition, she was concerned about the image of Spain, which has cost "a lot of effort" to achieve: "I hope that the image of the country, which is a safe destination, is not affected by these facts, which are sporadical and reportable. These attitudes have to be corrected", said the minister, who recalled that "if we have come this far it has been thanks to the patience of the population as a whole".
