The Ministry of Health of the Government of the Canary Islands has extended until July 31 the screening to contain the transmission of Covid-19 through diagnostic tests to passengers entering the Canary Islands from the rest of the national territory, by air or sea.
The measure, which was initially also linked to the state of alarm, has now been approved based on health and public health laws, without passing through the control of the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands. In fact, it is the only restriction that was left out of the decree published last Friday, and which has been partially overturned by the TSJC, with respect to the curfew and the perimeter closures of islands.
This new extension - against which, however, an appeal is possible in case someone decides to file it - is effective from this Monday, with the publication of the Order of the Minister of Health, Blas Trujillo, in the Official Gazette of the Canary Islands. "It constitutes a necessary measure to continue with the control and containment of imported cases of coronavirus in travelers from other parts of the national territory and while the rate of vaccination against Covid-19 is accelerated," they defend from the Government of the Canary Islands.
"Since its implementation, on December 18, 2020, screening by PDIA of passengers entering the Canary Islands from the national territory has been an effective measure for the control of the pandemic, with 87 percent of travelers who have provided a negative test, which has minimized the risk of importing new cases and, therefore, causing an increase in the transmission of Covid-19 in the Canary Islands," they defend.
Device operation
When a passenger arrives in the Canary Islands from another region of the national territory (provided that the trip does not respond to health reasons or work-related travel in professions considered essential), they must submit a negative PDIA certificate at the control points established for this purpose by the Ministry of Health in the Canary Islands airports that receive national flights.
Travelers who did not present the certificate, or that it was not validated, are identified, registered and are placed in isolation until they obtain the negative result of a diagnostic test at the destination.
The tests admitted are PCR, rapid antigen detection tests or Transcription Mediated Amplification (TMA).
The Ministry of Health reminds that the diagnostic test, both at origin and destination, will be free for travelers residing in the Canary Islands who come from the rest of the national territory and perform the test in the Eurofins Megalab centers arranged by the Canarian Health Service for this purpose. In other cases, the passenger will assume the cost of performing the PDIA, which will have a special price in the centers arranged by the SCS.
