Fiona Govan
SPAIN will impose a compulsory 10-day quarantine on all travellers arriving from India in response to the emergence of a highly contagious variant of the coronavirus that is sweeping across the Indian sub-continent.
The new measure was announced on Tuesday by government spokeswoman Maria Jesus Montero said on Tuesday and came in response to bans announced by other European countries.
Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Italy and the Netherlands have all imposed restrictions or travel bans on arrivals from India within the last week.
But as there are currently no direct flights between India and Spain, a ban on arrivals such as those in place for those travelling from South Africa and Brazil would be impossible.
Instead quarantine will be imposed on those who travelled from India via third countries.
India is currently in the grip of a record-breaking rise in Covid-19 infections which has led to over 3,000 daily deaths and overwhelmed hospitals.
Spain’s chief epidemiologist said there was no reason to be currently concerned about the spread of the Indian variant in Spain where more than 90 percent of new cases detected are the so called British variant.
“No cases of the Indian variant have been detected to date to my knowledge,” Spain’s Emergencies Coordinator Chief Fernando Simón said in his press conference on Monday.
“The intel does not indicate that we have to worry about it,” he added.
“Although we cannot rule out that a case (of the Indian variant) may be detected, so far it is not a variant of concern, it is a variant of interest,” he added.
Spain’s Foreign Ministry also recommended that Spanish citizens currently in India return home as soon as possible.
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