The omicron variant has touched Spanish soil. Microbiology Service at the Gregorio Marañón Hospital in Madrid On Monday, the first case of this strain was confirmed in Spain, in a traveler from South Africa.
On the same day, the Ministry of Health reported a 27-point rise in the cumulative incidence in 14 days, to 199 cases, with Navarra (571) and the Basque Country (446) remaining at the top of the national data. According to the report, Spain recorded 22,911 new infections over the weekend and 53 deaths.
In addition, the Ministry of Health reported that the occupancy rate of intensive care beds increased to 7.33% since last Friday, which stood at 6.5%.
This was pointed out by the Minister of Health, Carolina Daria Tomorrow, the government will approve in the Council of Ministers measures to restrict flights from southern African countries Affected by the omicron variant of the coronavirus.
Positive in Madrid
“We have succeeded in setting up an ultra-fast procedure that allows us to get the result on the same day. The patient is fine,” the institute confirmed through its Twitter profile.
it’s about A 51-year-old man returned from South Africa on November 28 With a layover in Amsterdam. The Directorate General of Public Health is maintaining epidemiological surveillance of close contacts of the flight that landed in Madrid from the Dutch capital.
Breaking news:
The Microbiology Service of the Gregorio Marañón Hospital in Madrid has reported the first confirmation of the omicron variant in Spain. This is a traveler from South Africa.– Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Gregorio Maranon (@Mic_Inf_Maranon) November 29, 2021
Positivity was detected by screening with an antigen test at Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport. The patient has mild symptoms and is in isolation while in quarantine.
European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) So far, 33 confirmed cases of the omicron variant of Covid-19 have been recorded in eight countries in the European Union and the European Economic Area (EU/EEA), specifically in Germany, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands and Portugal.
The European authority clarifies that all confirmed cases have a history of travel to African countries, and some have made connecting flights in other destinations between Africa and Europe.
On the other hand, the European Center report quantifies Status notifications in seven countries and regions outside Europe: Australia, Botswana, Canada, Hong Kong, Israel, South Africa and the United Kingdom.
Tighten the controls on the floors
From the Executive Director of the Community of Madrid, the Minister of Health of the Community of Madrid, Enrique Ruiz Escudero, on Monday reiterated the need to establish controls for access through Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas airport with the requirement for a negative test in the original and the principle of reciprocity before the appearance of the Omicron variant.
“It’s a good opportunity to enforce those controls in a firm and serious manner,” he said. And defended the chancellor, who stressed that, as on previous occasions, it would be appropriate to “take a control test in the original so that he can travel with this passivity because this is a global crisis”.
This idea was popularized by the Deputy Minister of Health Assistance and Public Health, Dr. Antonio Zapatero. “Now good airport control is absolutely mandatory, it will even be possible for any citizen who enters our country to do so with a negative PCR within 48/72 hours”, in comments to “Telemadrid” collected by Europa Press.
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