The UK has made a mistake in bringing back a rule meaning travellers from Spain must stay at home for 14 days, Madrid’s prime minister has said, arguing that much of the Mediterranean country has a lower coronavirus infection rate than the UK.
“The error, in my judgement, and hence the lack of alignment of the United Kingdom’s response, is based on considering the cumulative incidence of [the virus in] the entire country,” Mr Sanchez said in an interview with Telecinco television. The rebound in Covid-19 cases is focused in two regions, Catalonia and Aragon, he said, adding: “In most of Spain, the incidence [of the disease] is very much inferior to even the numbers registered in the United Kingdom.”
It comes as the head of the World Health Organisation warned the pandemic “continues to accelerate” with a doubling of cases over the last six weeks.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the organisation’s director-general, said nearly 16 million cases have now been reported to the UN health agency, with more than 640,000 deaths worldwide. ”Covid-19 has changed our world,” he said on Monday. “It has brought people, communities and nations together — and driven them apart.”
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Pandemic 'continues to escalate', head of WHO warns
The coronavirus pandemic "continues to accelerate," with a doubling of cases over the last six weeks, the head of the World Health Organisation has warned.
The WHO's director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said nearly 16 million cases have now been reported to the UN health agency, with more than 640,000 deaths worldwide.
Mr Tedros will convene WHO's emergency committee later this week, a procedural requirement six months after the agency's declaration of a public health emergency of international concern, made on 30 January for the coronavirus outbreak. The panel will advise him on the pandemic.
"Covid-19 has changed our world," he told reporters from WHO's Geneva headquarters on Monday. "It has brought people, communities and nations together — and driven them apart."
He cited some factors that have proven effective in some countries, including political leadership, education, increased testing and hygiene and physical distancing measures.
Quarantine policy an 'error', Spain's PM says
Britain's decision to quarantine travellers returning from Spain for 14-days was an "error", Spain's prime minister has said.
Pedro Sanchez pointed out that the upsurge in coronavirus cases is focused in two regions, Catalonia and Aragon, adding: "In most of Spain, the incidence is very much inferior to even the numbers registered in the United Kingdom."
Britons make up over a fifth of foreign visitors to Spain, which relies heavily on tourism, and Madrid has said the UK government gave it no warning that the quarantine move was coming last weekend.
