The Maristas de Cartagena residence for the elderly, which is managed by the Amavir Company, has reported an outbreak in the centre of 41 patients and 10 members of staff. The cases were confirmed on Thursday following PCR yesterday on all users and workers.

According to care home sources, all the cases are asymptomatic and “the measures established in the protocol are being taken by the regional health authority and the residence, including the isolation of those affected.”

The Murcia Community takes over the management of a residence every time there are cases of Covid and it is the health teams from the Ministry that carry out the tests.

The first case was detected last Tuesday in a member of staff. “From then on, antigen tests were carried out and four cases were detected, which were reported to the regional administration and family members,” according to a spokesperson for Amavir. Yesterday the PCRs were carried out and the remaining cases were found.

Up to this outbreak it is understood that no cases of coronavirus had been detected since the beginning of the pandemic and that vaccinations were to begin today.

“The staff is devastated, because they had worked very well since March to prevent the virus from entering the facilities. The example is that we had not yet had a single case, “added the Amavir spokesperson. Now, both residents and workers will have to wait to see how the outbreak evolves before they are vaccinated.

The Murcia Region now exceeds 6,000 people suffering from the coronavirus. There were 568 new cases detected during Three Kings Day and three deaths, two men and a woman aged 84, 83 and 87, from the municipalities of San Javier, Blanca and Cieza.

Hospital admissions remain at 300, but patients in intensive care units (ICU) rise to 74.