Coronavirus outbreak at brothel as 8 prostitutes test positive but clients stay quiet

Authorities in the Spanish tourist hotspot of Alcázar de San Juan are “extremely worried” after the sex workers tested positive, and say clients have been unwilling to come forward

Authorities discovered eight workers at a brothel in Spain had coronavirus (file image) (Image: AFP/Getty Images)

Health authorities in a Spanish tourist town are probing an "extremely worrying" coroavirus outbreak linked to a brothel – but are hampered by the unwillingness of clients to come forward.

The tracking team in Alcázar de San Juan has admitted it is having great difficulty in tracing all the contacts of eight prostitutes who have tested positive for the virus.

They say a number of clients are reluctant to come forward – but urged anyone who feels they have been put at risk to urgently make themselves known.

Alcázar de San Juan is in the province of Ciudad Real, which attracts international tourists because of its history, natural environment and entertainment and cultural activities.

So far, four men in the city of 30,000 have been traced and told to go into isolation – but locals say there will be many more who have visited the "hostess club" and won't come forward because of secret visits.



Officials are worried that clients won't come forward (file image)
(Image: Getty Images)

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Health chiefs say they are pretty sure the eight positive sex workers respected most of the coronavirus safety regulations including wearing masks, but failed to stay a metre-and-a-half from everyone they came in contact with.

Ciudad Real is the province of Castilla-La Mancha with the most accumulated cases since the beginning of the pandemic, at 7,722 and 1,122 deaths.

The local hospitals have warned about the danger of the virus spreading and have called on any men who attended the club to "show responsibility" and come forward for testing.



Men who have been to the brothel have been urged to 'show responsibility' by health authorities
(Image: Getty Images)

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The hostess club is located opposite a supermarket and local residents say it usually goes about its business on a relatively quiet and unnoticed manner.

But when they noticed a commotion and police on the scene, they assumed it was a raid. They then spotted people in protective gear disinfecting the area and "closed" signs on the premises.

Opposition councillor in the town, Andrea Fernández tweeted: "It is important to remember the high risk that runs not only the locality, but the entire community if not all those infected are detected in due time. For this reason, the hospitals of Alcázar call for prudence to prevent the virus from spreading like wildfire."

Public Health of Castilla-La Mancha confirmed the outbreak and the difficulty in tracking contacts as with all other cases.
"We recall that the citizens of Alcázar de San Juan suffered greatly with the first wave of the pandemic and it is feared that the same story will be repeated.

"Therefore, all clients of the brothel are recommended to undergo tests to find out if they are infected or not," a spokesman urged.

Sourse: www.mirror.co.uk