Spain has reduced the quarantine period for those testing positive for Covid-19 from ten days to seven days. The decision was taken by the Spanish Government after a meeting with regional leaders.
The seven-day countdown will begin from the point when symptoms appear, or from a positive test result in the case of those without symptoms.
The same seven-day period will also apply to those who are not vaccinated and who have been notified as close contacts of a positive case by tracing teams. Vaccinated people identified as close contacts have not had to quarantine since last week.
The reduction in quarantine reflect research by the World Health Organisation, that establishes the contagion period of Covid at between five to seven days. However, there is also a strong economic motive behind the decision, which will reduce the immense number of employees who are currently absent due to quarantine.
Spain’s President referred to this approach in a recent speech where he said that in 2022, the country would have to “balance public health considerations with those of mental health and the economy”, In its response to Covid.
Over 645,000 Spanish residents have tested positive for Covid in the last 14 days – more than a tenth of the total cases of coronavirus registered in the entire pandemic, and it is estimated that over half a million are currently observing quarantine at home.
29,000 of the 138,000 Canarians who have suffered from the virus tested positive in the last two weeks, more than one in five of all cases during the pandemic. 427 are currently in hospital, with 73 of those in intensive care, mainly on Tenerife and Gran Canaria.
According to the Lanzarote Health Area, 11 are currently in hospital on Lanzarote, and a 62-year-old man was transferred to intensive care yesterday.
Lanzarote will be raised to Level 2 from Friday, meaning that bars and restaurants must close at 3 am, and the maximum amount of non-family members allowed to gather is eight. This has been extended to 10 for New Year’s Eve and Three Kings Day. A 2am to 6 am curfew will also apply on Lanzarote on these two dates if the Canarian Supreme Court approves it.
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