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COVID-19

Spain analyses changes to PCR requirement for travellers

Spain’s foreign minister has acknowledged criticism over Spain’s requirement for a compulsory negative PCR test on arrival at airports and said the government is mulling possible changes.

Published: 9 December 2020 12:26 CET
Spain analyses changes to PCR requirement for travellers
Photo: AFP

UPDATE: The Spanish Health Ministry has changed requirements for compulsory testing for arrivals by sea and air and from December 10th will accept a negative TMA test as well as a PCR. READ MORE HERE

Arancha Gonzalez Laya told reporters in Brussels on Monday that authorities were looking at the possibility of accepting faster antigen tests after a flood of complaints that the current requirement makes travel impossible.

Under current rules, arrivals from a list of “high risk countries” that includes most of Europe, must test negative for COVID-19 in a laboratory test within 72 hours before arrival to Spain or risk a €6,000 fine.

The test results must be presented in English or Spanish by a recognised laboratory before travellers are allowed to board their flight.

But the tight timeframe together with delays in testing make it difficult for travellers to meet requirements especially if their trip away from Spain only lasts a few days or takes place over a weekend.

However, many have complained that it is impossible to take a PCR test, get the results back and travel in such a short time frame.

Speaking in Brussels on Monday, González Laya said she was ‘aware’ of the many complaints received from different sectors and that her team was ‘examining’ some of the issues.

One reader of the Local described how he had to change his Christmas plans to fly back to the UK for Christmas after discovering it would be impossible to carry out the test over the Christmas weekend in London and be sure of getting results before flying back to Spain.

“I was due to arrive in the UK before Christmas and fly back on the morning of December 29,” explained Nick, a teacher in Madrid who had hoped to go and visit family in the UK.  

“But with labs in London closed over the Christmas weekend and including the bank holiday on Monday December 28th (which is in place to compensate for Boxing Day falling on a Saturday this year) it would  have made it impossible to get a test with a guarantee of a result before my flight.”

Asked whether Spain would accept antigen tests instead of PCR tests, González Laya said ‘when they are sufficiently reliable’.

Last week, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) advised against a compulsory negative PCR .

The latest guidelines said that people travelling home from abroad for Christmas should not automatically be considered as high-risk for spreading infection.

Instead, these passengers should be treated in the same way as members of the local population, who have not had any direct contact to a person infected with Covid-19.

Airlines have also expressed their concern over the rule, urging that an antigen test, which is cheaper and quicker, be required instead.

‘The PCR tests are not a mechanism that the Spanish government has made up to pester people; a number of EU member states have also launched it,’ insisted González Laya.

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HEALTH

Respiratory infections soar in Spain over Christmas as hospitals struggle

Cases of viral respiratory infections such as flu, Covid and bronchitis have shot up over the past few weeks in Spain, putting an enormous strain on hospitals across the country and causing a severe lack of beds.

Published: 4 January 2024 12:33 CET
Respiratory infections soar in Spain over Christmas as hospitals struggle

Winter colds and flu are common, but this year Spain has seen a spike in cases of three different viruses – flu, Covid and bronchitis at the same time.

This comes after the festive and New Year period with lots of family gatherings and meetings with friends without much thought for social distancing days of the pandemic.

Rise in cases

According to health services, there are 35 percent more cases of these infections than a year ago, a percentage that is expected to continue rising until the third week of January when the epidemic peak will be reached after more gatherings for Three Kings’ Day on January 5th and 6th.

In a period of seven days, the rates of flu have gone from 532 to 908 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. The cases of Covid have also grown from 12.6 percent to 13.6 percent.

The Health Minister, Monica García has published a message on social media reminding the public of the importance of getting vaccinated and maintaining prevention measures, such as ventilating rooms, washing hands and wearing a mask.

The head of the Emergency Department at the Reina Sofía University Hospital in Murcia, explained that the profile of these patients ranges “from young people with flu pathologies who go to the emergency room because health centres have delayed their appointments and people over 80 years old with pneumonia due to the flu who end up being admitted”.

Lack of hospital beds

According to the first vice president of the Spanish Society of Emergency Medicine (SEMES), Pascual Piñera, 10 of patients with these infections end up admitted to hospital overnight and one of the biggest problems staff are facing is the severe lack of beds, “They have nowhere to put the sick”, he explained.

The situation is the same all over the country. Red Workers union of the La Paz University Hospital in Madrid has reported that there are 105 patients pending admission and beds in the hallways are in double rows, “which cannot be evacuated if the patient worsens or there is a fire”.

Delays in primary health care 

Acute respiratory infections not only put a strain on hospitals and emergency rooms, but also primary care centres, causing delays and long waiting times for appointments. 

The spokesperson for the Federation of Associations for the Defence of Public Health (FADSP), Marciano Sánchez Bayle, explains that it is generating a “major traffic jam” in the healthcare system “where appointments are made for very late dates”.

Sánchez Bayle cites the case of the Community of Madrid, where he knows that appointments requested in December were not given until the end of January “which further clogs an already saturated system”. 

The need for greater vaccination rates 

Besides the festive period, many health professionals believe that the situation could be improved if more people were getting vaccinated, specifically against the flu. 

Flu vaccination in Spain is far below the WHO recommendations, hovering around 50 percent of the population at risk, when the goal is 75 percent. And the percentage is even lower in the case of children under five.

According to the Ministry of Health, the objectives for vaccination against flu and Covid-19 for the 2023-2024 season are to achieve or exceed vaccination coverage of 75 percent in older people and health workers, as well as 60 percent for pregnant women and people with at-risk conditions.

Amós García Rojas from Spain’s Vaccinology Association believes that after a few years without flu during the Covid pandemic, society has relaxed.

The vaccination campaign has not yet ended, so there’s still time to get yours before the end of the season. The campaign began on October 15th and ends on January 31st. 

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