While it is too soon to call an end to the epidemic and there will almost certainly be more cases, the Covid-19 free day is a sign that almost two months of strict lockdown have worked. The Canary Islands are on track to become one of the first places in the world to eliminate the virus completely.
Director of the Canarian Health Service, Antonio Olivares, said yesterday that the virus is no longer out there amongst the people and that all remaining clusters of cases are under tight control. The islands are doing 3000 tests per day to make sure that the virus remains contained.
So far, the islands have detected 2,231 people with Covid-19, of whom 143 have died and 1,194 have been discharged. There are 894 people that remain in recovery. 26% of cases were amongst doctors, nurses and other health professionals. In Gran Canaria, 546 people have been affected by the virus, with 328 of them already cured. 36 people have died.
As daily life slowly returns to normal, the tourist-free Canary Islands now have to ask "what now?!"