The Ministry of Health of the Canary Islands will extend, through an order that will be effective in the coming days, the measure regarding the performance of screenings to contain the transmission of SARS-COV-2, through diagnostic tests of active infection (PDIA) to national passengers entering the islands by air or sea.
In a press release, the regional government recalled that said order was established on December 18 based on the epidemiological situation registered by the Canary Islands compared to the rest of the national territory.
Thus, once the evolution of the pandemic has registered changes, but taking into account the good results that this protocol has meant for the situation in the Canary Islands, a new wording of said Order is necessary to allow, based on the legal umbrella established by the Decree of the State of Alarm, to maintain this procedure.
For its part, the measure is established for the arrival of visitors from other regions of the country. In the case of movements between the islands, and once the specific and temporary measures for Easter Week have ended, the obligation to present a negative PDIA is eliminated.
Although the islands that are in alert levels 1 and 2 do not have their entry and exit restricted, those that are in levels 3 and 4 can only enter and exit justifying the movement based on the established exceptions.
In addition, national and international passengers who accredit their stay in any regulated tourist accommodation in the archipelago will be required to present a negative diagnostic test when registering at the establishment.
753 positives detected from December 18 to April 4
87 percent of the 342,794 travelers who arrived in the Canary Islands from the rest of the national territory, by air or sea, between December 18 and April 4, provided a negative diagnostic test for active infection (PDIA). Thanks to this protocol, a total of 753 positive cases were detected.
Among the passengers who took the test at origin, 482 positive cases of COVID-19 were detected, of which 410 were confirmed by PCR and the remaining 72 by antigen tests.
In addition, 271 positive cases of COVID-19 were detected at the destination among travelers who took the test upon arrival in the Canary Islands, once they had been identified and placed in isolation until receiving the negative result of the diagnostic test.
Finally, once the good results of this control and detection system for positive steps at the entrance to the Canary Islands have been analyzed, the Ministry will extend this rule to guarantee that any passenger entering the archipelago does so free of coronavirus, minimizing the risk of importing new cases and, therefore, of causing an increase in the transmission of COVID-19 in the Canary Islands.
