/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/MKOUWL3DD5FILAO4TSTVQ5RS5E.jpg)
The San José de Calamonte school (Badajoz), in quarantine due to a coronavirus outbreak, this Friday Illustrated Service (Automatic) / Europa Press
On the last holiday bridge of the Constitution, a group of residents of the Extremaduran town of Calamonte (Badajoz, 6,200 inhabitants) got on a bus to travel five hours by road to Madrid's Barajas airport.
Julio Barrena, one of the travelers, remembers: “On December 6 we traveled to Madrid to take a plane to Turkey from there.
We wanted to graft hair ”.
The expedition included 18 men and a woman, who was accompanying.
Eight days after returning, all but three travelers tested positive for coronavirus, which has triggered the incidence of the disease in Badajoz, which registers 29 cases in total this Friday, from four outbreaks, and 300 close contacts, according to data from the Junta de Extremadura.
The trip was organized by Manuel Parada, a hairdresser from the town, located about nine kilometers from Mérida, who also signed up for the expedition.
The group is between 30 and 50 years old.
They arrived the same day 6 at a clinic in Istanbul to undergo the hair operation.
It is a very popular destination among Spaniards due to the cheap price and, apparently, the good result of the implant.
Parada, nicknamed
El Alemán
, says that the idea was born in September while chatting with one of his most frequent clients.
"This has been a matter of word of mouth," he explains in a telephone conversation.
On the return to the Badajo town, on the 9th, they continued leading a normal life.
The alarm was raised by the mother of one of the travelers, an 85-year-old woman, who began to feel ill and tested positive for covid-19 in a PCR test on Tuesday.
Being a direct relative of one of the travelers, the suspicion about the origin of the contagion grew.
The travelers also discovered that the driver of the coach they had hired, precisely because it seemed safer than traveling on a scheduled bus, had tested positive, after which they had a private PCR.
This Thursday they learned the results: 16 infected.
"Until yesterday (on Thursday) we had only six positives, this situation is quite tough," lamented Magdalena Carmona, the town's mayor.
The councilor has shown her concern about the situation in the town, fearing that the outbreak will grow in the next few hours.
The General Directorate of Public Health of Extremadura is carrying out the epidemiological report to know for sure the origin of the outbreak.
The Minister of Health and Social Policies, José María Vergeles, has asked for "a bit of tranquility and patience" until he can find out where the contagion has occurred, although he has admitted that he is less concerned about the origin and more about the number of infected, reports Efe .
In this sense, he explained that they have scheduled a screening among the population.
In fact, this Friday 150 residents were summoned to undergo a PCR test, so the number of cases is expected to increase.
The San José school, with 500 students and 40 teachers, has had to close its doors due to the detection of four positive cases in the last hours related in principle to the trip of its neighbors to Turkey.
A nursery school, with around 20 children between the ages of zero and three, has also had to temporarily close.
The Calamonte Unión Deportiva football team has confirmed, through a statement, cases of covid-19 in the squad, which is why it postpones the upcoming game.
Closing of bars and restaurants
The management of the Mérida Health Area has decided to proceed with the closure of bars and restaurants in the town until the incidence is reduced.
A spokeswoman for the City Council explains that it has also established the reduction of the evening opening hours of shops from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
In addition, they are going to prohibit by decree for the next few days any type of festive celebration in the town.
Marcos V., one of the travelers who asked to leave without a last name, explains in a telephone conversation that they did not pass any test control at the Barajas airport, neither on the way out nor on the return trip, but he emphasizes that since they got off the bus the day 9, they did not leave their homes.
In the days after the return, the members of the group did not present any symptoms of contagion.
The antibiotics that are normally consumed after a hair procedure in Turkey could have masked these symptoms, according to a spokesman for Health.
He adds that the signs of the disease only come to light when the effects of the medicines have worn off, so that many households could have been living together for a long time without being aware of being infected.
"There are outbreaks due to illegal parties and that is not discussed," denounces Marcos V., who regrets that they have been "blamed" for the outbreak.
“They take for granted that we are us, but the origin could come from the driver of the vehicle himself,” argues Parada.
In a statement on its social networks, the group has stated that “although it was not a vitally important trip, neither is going to the hairdresser, putting on your nails or having a drink in a bar, but it was something that was not prohibited if the necessary measures were taken ”.
They add that the trip was communicated to Public Health and that they had met all the requirements and passed all the controls.
"In the village, unfortunately, there have been more cases and no one has gone to Turkey," they add.
Information about the coronavirus
- Here you can follow the last hour on the evolution of the pandemic
- Restrictions search engine: What can I do in my municipality?
- This is how the coronavirus curve evolves in the world
- Download the tracking application for Spain
- Guide to action against the disease
