Lines at health centres in the Andalusian region in Southern Spain are longer than usual on Tuesday morning due to the internet outage.
The Telefonica issues have prevented healthcare workers from working normally, reports elCorreo. As a result, delays have multiplied, similar to when the country was struck by the blackout a few weeks ago.
While telephone and internet services were working again by 8.30am local time, some Andalusian Health Service (SAS) health centres have experienced delays of up to an hour.
A patient who spoke with the local news source said that when he arrived to request sick leave, “there were no computers, and therefore, they couldn’t process any paperwork.
“The doctor saw me and told me that she couldn’t give me sick leave […] the only thing she could do was send me a physical, signed document that’s no good at work,” he explained, adding that he returned after 10.30 to find the computers still not working.
“In the end, I wasted the whole morning on top of how sick I was,” he added.
SAS administrators also have been unable to schedule in-person appointments.