Costa del Sol’s Marbella Begins Quick Testing for Covid-19

THE mayor of Marbella assures that the tests have been supplied from the European Union and have a reliability factor of 95 per cent.

Angeles Muñoz, the mayor of Marbella, announced yesterday that the municipality already has the necessary rapid tests to detect the presence of the coronavirus, an advantageous preventative measure to limit the expansion of the virus.

The first tests were carried out yesterday at the Las Albarizas health centre.

This initiative was considered by Marbella Town Hall a few weeks ago after the usefulness of these tests was verified in other countries, as they carried them out on a massive scale and to detect if patients were in fact infected by the virus but without showing any symptoms. “If that has worked, we all have to continue to carry it out,” said the councillor.

The tests are from a European provider and are characterised by their high sensitivity – around 95 per cent – when testing for the coronavirus.

Test results are achieved in a matter of minutes as the devices have a control and two samples that react to a drop of blood from the patient being tested.

After applying a reagent, the test measures the antibodies produced by the organism after the incubation period of the virus against those that the organism conserves after overcoming the disease. This way, a healthy person can check if the patient has already surpassed the disease or if they run the risk of suffering it.

The positive results are contrasted with previous tests in health centres.

The tests will be conducted by a matter of priority, beginning with the five nursing homes in the municipality and the Aspandem social group, in addition to volunteers from other charitable associations such as Caritas or Bancosol, Detenta and Aid, or Civil Protection.

“These are the people who work and stand up for those who most need it,” explained the mayor, it is only right they be tested first.

Subsequently, tests will be carried out on municipal workers who come into direct contact with coronavirus related issues.