Axarquia town closes school and market amid rise in Covid cases

Axarquia town closes school and market amid rise in Covid cases.
NUESTRA Señora de Monsalud public school in Alfarnate closed this week due to an increase in Covid infections in the municipality and the public has been asked to only leave the house when ‘strictly necessary’.
The school was closed on Monday and Tuesday, April 19 and 20, and the town’s Friday market has been suspended.
Mayor Juan Jesús Gallardo took to social media to report that the town council is in contact with Axarquia Health and Education Department, as well as the management at Hospital Comarcal de la Axarquia and the local health centre.
He stressed that “all the measures must be supervised by the rest of the public administrations.”
According to data from the Andalucian Institute of Statistics and Cartography, Alfarnate, with a population of 1,065 people, has a cumulative incidence rate at 14 days of 2,910.8.
“The data is not encouraging and the total number of people affected between contagions and direct contacts can be between 200 and 250 people,” said the mayor.
“The only way to stop the chain of infections is to confine ourselves and leave the house only when strictly necessary,” he added while wishing a speedy recovery “to all those infected along with encouragement and strength.”
Mass screening was carried out by the Junta de Andalucia health authority in Alfarnate last week, and the population has now been asked to “limit social contact to a minimum” and to respect the measures established to curb the advance of Covid.
In Malaga Province, Alfarnate currently has the highest incidence rate, followed by Almargen, in the La Vega health district, with 2,465.3, as of April 20.