Arboleas Covid-19 Cases as at 22nd January 2021

New Cases - 2
Recoveries - 1
Total Active Cases = 47 ( yesterday 46 )

From Clare Shirley : Report from a Doctor in Malaga

I am going to communicate something that, perhaps, many aren't clear about yet. THE HEALTH SITUATION IN SPAIN, as of today, January 21, 2021, is appalling. I don't remember it so serious in March or April of last year.

The virus is taking many, many people of all ages. The ICUS are full. In the Health Centers we do nothing other than PCR, antigen testing, follow-up patients, care for patients with symptoms and referrals to the hospital for seriously ill people. The staff of the Health Centers are depleted. Many fellow doctors and nurses are quarantining their homes. Others, in home isolation for having tested positive. Others, admitted to the hospital or in the ICUS. And there are no replacements!

We urgently need everyone's collaboration

• First of all, stay home whenever you can. Try not to go out on the street unless necessary. Forget about what politicians argue about whether or not to confine ourselves. They manage variables other than health (economy, electoral calculations, voting intention, etc.). For us, as doctors and patients, we must now only worry about not falling ill and not making others sick.
• Second, be very careful with closed spaces. Therein lies the danger.
• Third, mask at all times.
• Fourth, do not call the Health Center unless it is something urgent. Leave it for another time that routine blood test that you do every year, or that annual blood test, or that pain in your finger that you have had for months, or that report for the dependency law, or that routine review with the ophthalmologist. I know what I say sounds very harsh, but we can't take it anymore. We are juggling with very little staff to deal with the cases of this pandemic. We ask for your collaboration and understanding.
• Fifth, get vaccinated against the coronavirus as soon as the health authorities say that your turn has come. Don't call the Health Center to ask when it's your turn. We will call you.
  Of course: we are talking in the event that urban planning councilors leave vaccines for others.
• Sixth, those who say that the pandemic does not exist or that vaccines or masks are not necessary. They are usually irretrievable people for solidarity. And if they are not part of the solution ... they are part of the problem. They can go stuff themselves (translated more politely than his version)
• And in seventh place, follow the advice of your doctor or nurse at all times without taking out on them your frustration, your anger or your fear. We are victims of the pandemic just like you. Even more, if we look at the percentage of infected and deceased. Respect us. Do not collaborate in the exodus of professionals to other European countries, where they feel better paid and better valued. The last thing we need now is for doctors and nurses to keep leaving us.

All this is humbly requested by a Spanish doctor and citizen, a compatriot on the front line of battle. And I ask you because I know that, on almost every occasion that I write on social networks, you have trusted my words.

A big hug from before. And good luck to all.
Together, we can.

Signed:
Juan Manuel Jiménez Muñoz.
Malaga doctor and writer

Following on from a members account yesterday regarding contracting Covid-19. Friends of theirs have also kindly given their own detailed account of how it affected them both.

Please again take the time to read this in full. It could happen to you.

Myself and my wife are 2 friends of the previous author and we also tested positive around the same time after having been informed that we had been in contact with a person that had tested positive.

The only symptoms I had was that of a slight cold but did loose my sense of small. My wife on the other hand was in bed for 8 days awful diarrhea, feeling sick all the time, head aches and hot then cold she lost 10 pounds in a week. Her symptoms started about 4 days after contact and knocked her for 6 the onset was very quick, thankfully I was ok to look after her. After 8 days in bed she had enough strength to get out of bed and eat a slice of toast for breakfast then back to bed for a few hours. Up again at lunchtime for a scrambled egg then back to bed for the rest of the day. 

After a few days of being up for a couple of hours at a time she has now got to the stage of being up for most of the day and slowly starting to eat properly again. She is now recovering slowly but is still breathless when walking around it has taken her just over 2 weeks from onset of symptoms to be able to start recovery. This virus hit her very hard and has completely changed her life over the past weeks. 

We have private health insurance so had to pay for a private test. After we tested positive I informed Maria Louisa who passed our details onto the health centre. We have had a couple of phone calls from the health centre and the track and tracers. As a group of friends we took the decision to self isolate after the initial contact with a person who tested positive I hate to think how many other residents of Arboleas the 6 of us would have infected if we had just carried on as if nothing had happened. 

I would urge everyone who has been in contact with someone that tests positive to self isolate. 

This is an awful virus and we must all stick to the rules. Stay safe.