The Diplomat
The Ministry of Health announced yesterday new restrictions to travelers coming from China in view of the worldwide alert due to the uncontrolled increase of COVID-19 cases in the Asian country. For its part, the PP has requested the urgent appearance of the Minister, Carolina Darias, before the Congress to address the new situation.
“There is a shared concern at international and national level for the evolution of the contagions in China and for the difficulty that exists at the time of being able to make a correct evaluation of the situation due to the scarce information that exists”, declared Darias yesterday during a press conference. “The case of China is unique because of the Zero COVID-19 policy or because of the low vaccination rates,” he continued. “The main concern lies in the possibility that new, uncontrolled variants may appear in China,” the minister warned.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has called on the Beijing authorities to be more transparent about data on what could be the worst wave of coronaviruses in China since the pandemic began. Beijing – which has denounced the “exaggeration, defamation and political manipulation” of the Western press – has confirmed more than 800,000 cases and almost 800 deaths in the last month, despite which it maintains its intention to reopen its borders and eliminate the need for quarantine as of January 8, within the framework of its Zero COVID policy.
For that reason, and before the foreseeable and “important” increase of the number of travelers coming from China from January 8, according to Darias, the Government has decided to increase the controls in the airports to the travelers coming from the Asian country, who will be required a negative diagnostic test of COVID-19 or the complete pattern of vaccination. To date, the only restriction at Spanish airports was the mandatory use of face masks. In addition, he continued, steps are being taken to carry out antigen tests on passengers coming from China, in coordination with Aeropuertos Españoles y Navegación Aérea (AENA).
At “European level”, explained Darias, the recommendation to request the COVID Certificate to these travelers will be reviewed. Likewise, the minister assured that she is in “permanent contact” with the international organizations to carry out a “close monitoring” of the situation and to evaluate and adopt the measures considered appropriate at each moment. The health authorities are prepared for “all scenarios”, she declared.
According to the Minister of Health, the situation in Spain is “stable and even declining”. “The pandemic has left us many lessons. We have a robust surveillance strategy, a very powerful vaccination strategy, and what we need to do is to continue to preserve and maintain this situation,” she added. This past Thursday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs limited itself to recommending that Spaniards who want to travel to China be up to date with their vaccinations and that they inform themselves about the restrictions on mobility due to the “considerable increase” in the number of cases of COVID-19.
The PP requests the appearance of Darias
After the Minister’s statements, the PP demanded the urgent appearance of Carolina Darias before the Health and Consumption Commission of the Congress to explain if the Government has planned “any real useful measure” in view of the increase of cases of coronavirus in China, which “is affecting the rest of the world”. The day before, the PP requested a meeting of the Interterritorial Council of the National Health System. In statements to TVE, the secretary general of the PP, Cuca Gamarra, warned yesterday that “there are measures that sometimes cannot wait and must be adopted immediately”, regardless of how the rest of the EU acts.
The European Commission convened this past Thursday emergency Health Security Committee of the European Commission, which brings together representatives of the Ministries of Health of the Twenty-seven, to “coordinate” the EU response. At the meeting, Member States pledged to maintain “active vigilance” and to remain in contact to discuss possible joint initiatives. According to diplomatic sources quoted by the Europa Press agency, Spain insisted during the meeting on “the importance of continuing the path of European coordination in health policies”.
For its part, the Government of the Community of Madrid yesterday asked the Ministry of Health to intensify controls at the Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas airport and the Minister of Health, Enrique Ruiz Escudero, asked Minister Darias to convene the Interterritorial Council “as a matter of urgency”.
