Half of the People in Spain’s Madrid Offered Free PCR Tests Don’t Bother Showing Up

LESS than half of all the people in Spain’s Madrid who were offered free PCR testing and given appointments have not bothered to show up. More specifically, less than 500 of the 1,000 residents in Madrid between the ages of 15 and 49 have actually attended their appointments.

This Monday, residents in Madrid received a text message on their phones, informing them of their ability to voluntarily undergo PCR testing in the district of Carabanchel. This mass testing would help health authorities in the region gain a clearer picture of who is asymptomatic within the population.

According to the Ministry of Health, individuals had the option to be tested from the early morning until eight in the afternoon, however, only a total of 424 PCRs were effectively carried out. Looking ahead to the mass testing on Wednesday, because of the dire figures recorded this Tuesday, SMS recipients for voluntarily testing will increase to 1,500, according to the same sources.

The mass testing plan includes summoning a total of 6,000 people between the ages of 15 and 49, 1,000 in each of the areas of Madrid, all chosen at random and contacted through a message on their mobile phone. The objective is to “anticipate the chain of transmission” in the areas of the Community of Madrid with the highest incidence of coronavirus with respect to the average and in the most affected population – 74 per cent of those infected are now less than 49 years old – recalled the Madrid Deputy Minister of Public Health and the Covid-19 Plan, Antonio Zapatero.