The Balearic social affairs ministry has confirmed that two educators and four inmates at the Es Pinaret youth reform centre in Palma have tested positive for coronavirus. The four inmates are part of a bubble of eight in all, leading the ministry to believe that the infections are very "centralised" and controlled.
The four have been placed in isolation, while the two members of staff have been put on sick leave. The social affairs minister, Fina Santiago, says that "we are confident that there will be no more (infections), as the different groups have not been brought together at any time".
The minister explains that all the inmates and staff are being tested - fifty inmates, 86 employees and twenty security personnel. Santiago adds that during the state of alarm there were no infections at Es Pinaret. Now, however, there are permissions to go out, and "we don't know how the contagion entered".
At Es Pinaret, health measures, including temperature checks, have been adopted. Because of the bubbles, contact inside the centre doesn't occur. "Everything is designed so that they do not infect each other," Santiago stresses, while acknowledging that there are contacts outside the centre over which there is no control.
Because of the exceptional situation with the pandemic, the ministry and the prosecution service for minors are looking at ways of restricting the permissions without infringing on individual liberties. "We will have to rethink these, as we are not in control of what they (the inmates) do at weekends and when they go out."