Migrants at field hospital row
Conflicting reports over numbers and safety measures
ALICANTE municipal council has called on the government to ‘provide the necessary security measures’ to guard the field hospital, which stands next to the city’s general hospital.
City hall spokeswoman Antonio Manresa claimed that nearly 100 migrants had been ‘confined’ at the temporary facility, which was built earlier this year to treat any overflow of coronavirus patients.
“It is completely irresponsible to have taken this decision before they put security measures into place to guarantee the health of both the migrants and the residents of the city and its tourists,” she stated.
Sra Manresa claimed that the placement of the migrants in the centre had led to the ‘collapse’ of the hospital over the weekend.
She claimed that the field hospital, which is constructed with marquees, does not have air conditioning, which is causing problems for the people staying there.
However, the regional government stated that the facility does have this function and that it is a modern hospital that is fully equipped to deal with Covid-19 patients.
Sra Manresa claimed that it is ‘not the most adequate place to attend to these migrants’.
She insisted that urgent action must be taken to ‘transfer these people to a place that has measures to keep them confined’.
The councillor claimed that Alicante residents are doing everything possible to halt the spread of the virus but they are being put at risk by the ‘irresponsible’ placement of migrants in a place which has no security guards.
Rebuttal from Valencia
The regional government has refuted the claims.
Councillor for justice Gabriela Bravo, who visited the site last week, explained that 97 migrants had been placed in isolation at the field hospital ‘after having arrived in boats with people who tested positive for Covid-19’.
However, only six of them still remain ‘under guard’ on the recommendation of doctors. Sra Bravo stated that 32 boats containing a total of 403 migrants had landed along the coast of Alicante so far this year.
She noted that 12 of these had arrived since July 25 and six of the vessels contained migrants with coronavirus, with 12 of them testing positive.
The councillor noted that that people who came into contact with the patients have been kept at the field hospital ‘so they did not present a problem’ and they could have treatment if needed.
She noted that the procedure had ‘protected the rest of the population and guaranteed safety and public order’.