Spain FEARS Opening Borders to Third Countries as 20% of all Current New Covid-19 Cases IMPORTED

According to new data collected today by Spain’s Ministry of Health, approximately 20 per cent of all the current new coronavirus cases are imported.

OF the 259 cases reported over the last week, approximately 54 of them have been imported, confirmed Fernando Simón, Director of the Centre for Coordination of Health Alerts and Emergencies, during a press conference today. Most were detected in tourists arriving to the Canary Islands over the past week. Although it’s inevitable that new cases will be imported into the country, Spain is fearful of opening borders to high-risk coronavirus countries. In fact, various regional premiers have demanded that the government do more to prevent imported cases.

The regional government of Madrid, for example, has demanded for additional restrictions to be imposed on travellers flying into Spain from high-risk Covid-19 countries. Madrid’s Health councillor Enrique Ruiz Escudero, emphasised the “urgent need” for more control measures and restrictions imposed on travellers arriving into Spain. These include the restriction of flights from countries with a high Covid-19 rate, as well as passengers having to produce a negative PCR test that’s taken 48 hours before travelling to Spain. Andalucia’s government also wants similar measures to be put in place.

For now, Spain is waiting for an agreement to be reached by the EU on how to manage tourism from third countries, as the 27 members are currently negotiating a short list of countries that Europe can potentially open its borders to next week on July 1, as reported. Simón added that the “Ministry of Health is also preparing its own emergency response plan to avoid possible increases in transmission and a second wave – with measures that can be applied at the local, regional, inter-regional and national levels.”