Date Published: 03/09/2020
ARCHIVED - Archivel in Caravaca de la Cruz put into flexibilised confinement
ARCHIVED ARTICLE
There are two outbreaks in this outlying pedanía, one of which is related to a BBQ
On Thursday the regional health authority took the decision to put the outlying pedanía of Archivel in Caravaca de la Cruz into a “flexibilised confinement” due to a highly localised surge in cases.
The pedanía is in the north-west of the Murcia Region and has a population of around 1200, but the sheer number of cases means that its IA* rate (accumulated number of cases per 100,000 of population) is over 1,000, more than eight times the regional average.
There are two different outbreaks in the pedanía, but the principal surge in cases is the result of a BBQ, held by a group of young people, who have in turn, infected their families, friends and many others within the local community.
One of the attendees is in intensive care.
The same restrictions will be applied as in the Totana confinement, so the residents will be free to move around within the boundaries of the pedanía but not to leave it other than for essential reasons.
No-one from outside the pedanía can enter, unless for essential reasons.
The residents are not confined to their homes, but it is highly recommended that over 65s do not leave their homes.
At the end of last week the council agreed a raft of measures for the whole municipality in an attempt to halt the spread of the virus. See below:
On Thursday the Murcia Region announced another record daily total of 430, pushing the number of active cases past the 4,000 mark.
Yesterday the regional minister was highly critical of the population; in his appearance in the Regional Assembly yesterday, the Minister of Health, Manuel Villegas, strongly criticised “citizen irresponsibility”, the main culprit, according to him, of the second wave of cases. Villegas explained that " 48% of current cases originate in leisure activities such as dinners with friends, 28% originate at work and 28% in nightlife” and tracking work is extremely difficult because "in 30% of the follow-ups the link cannot be determined because those affected do not say where they have been, and it is because they have been to private parties."
"The outbreaks have been caused by the recklessness of a sector of the population that has been told to isolate and has not done so," he said.
The recent surge of cases in Jumilla has also been caused by private lunch gatherings held in rural properties and family gatherings.