Hundreds of untested people could have coronavirus. | Ultima Hora

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There are now 112 cases of coronavirus in the Balearic Islands but the Ministry of Health admits that there are probably a lot of other people who are positive who have not been diagnosed.

"There are cases that are not being counted, it is true, there is no way to have a count, but maybe they are not, maybe it is just the flu," they said.

The World Health Organisation has called for more people to be tested and by next week a quick test should be available in the Balearic Islands to detect the virus.

Ib Salut had carried out a thousand PCRs by last Tuesday and an avalanche of new patients is expected to emerge once the new test is available.

061 Saturation

When the Covid-19 virus was first discovered in China, patients had to present the symptoms of the disease and prove that they were in a risk zone or in close contact with someone already infected to qualify for a test.

Since then the risk zone has expanded from the Chinese province of Wuhan to Italy.

Two days before the State of Emergency was imposed Madrid and Vitoria were named as risk zones, and that sent shock waves through the rest of Spain.

The Balearic Islands' call system was totally inundated so the Government put the 061 Salut Emergency Services Response Team in charge of dealing with people who think they have symptoms and there’s been a massive response.

The Ministry of Health admits that there are people who meet the epidemiological criteria and are presenting coronavirus symptoms, who have not been confirmed by a PCR test and are not being monitored.

"If the caller has mild symptoms and is suspicious of the circumstances, he will be declared positive and given the measures to take, such as isolation or paracetamol in case of fever; if the symptoms become more complicated they have to call again,” they explained.

Only patients with severe symptoms who are vulnerable are being tested by Healthcare Workers.

An avalanche of suspicious cases has forced the Government to strengthen helplines, activate new Coronavirus Care Units, or UVAC and reorganise the Primary and Hospital Care system.