Spain Says Anyone In Contact With Omicron Must Quarantine For 10 Days
Spain News
Published: 02 December 2021 14:37 CET
Spain’s Ministry of Health announced on Wednesday that anyone who comes into contact with those carrying the Omicron, Beta or Gamma Covid variants, must quarantine for 10 days regardless as to whether they are fully vaccinated.
Up until now, those who came into contact with those testing positive for Covid did not need to self-isolate if they had received the full vaccination quota.
However, fears of the recent emergence of the Omicron variant has meant that the country’s Ministry of Health has had to revise its measures in order to tackle any potential threat.
In a statement, the ministry said that the rules would apply even if it is only suspected that a person has come into contact with someone with Covid. Even if it is unconfirmed, they will still need to self-isolate.
“Confirmation of the type of variant is not usually available at the time of diagnosis, so this measure should also be applied to those cases in which there is suspicion - either due to preliminary information through specific PCR or because the case is part of an outbreak that includes cases produced by these variants," the ministry said in their latest 'Strategy for early detection, surveillance and control of Covid-19' update.
It comes after the country announced this week that further restrictions and lockdown measures would not be an option, instead choosing to encourage people to wear masks, socially distance and practice personal hygiene.
On Friday, the Spanish government announced that it would implement new entry requirements for those travelling into the country from southern Africa.
Those arriving from Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe would have to provide a negative Covid test before flying to Spain and quarantine for 10 days on arrival. The quarantine period can be reduced to seven days if the traveller can provide another negative PCR. The rules will apply even if they have been fully vaccinated against the virus.
To date, two cases of the Omicron variant have been detected in Madrid. On Wednesday the Balearic Islands also confirmed that a third case had also been discovered in a Mallorcan resident who had recently travelled back from South Africa.
There are also two other suspected Omicron cases in the Catalonia region, however, these are still to be confirmed by the authorities.
The Omicron variant first came to light around a week ago and was first detected in South Africa, placing health authorities around the world on high alert.
The potential threat is still unknown, although the World Health Organisation has labelled Omicron as a ‘Variant of Concern’ due to the large number of mutations that it contains. It is feared that the variant could be more contagious than other strains and potentially have the ability to bypass the current vaccines and antibodies that are produced after recovering from the virus.
A number of countries have closed their borders to those travelling from South Africa, however, these measures have failed to fully contain the virus with at least 23 countries reporting cases of the variant.
Source
https://english.elpais.com/society/2021-12-02/in-spain-close-contacts-of-people-infected-with-omicron-variant-will-have-to-quarantine.html
https://www.surinenglish.com/spain/contacts-those-infected-20211201173931-nt.html
https://www.thelocal.es/20211202/spain-says-omicron-close-contacts-must-quarantine-as-third-case-detected/
