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Date Published: 05/05/2021
ARCHIVED - 10 cases of Indian variant confirmed in Spain with a further 17 suspected infections
The European Commission has announced emergency funding for India and Spain has already sent medical supplies
Following the growing Covid outbreak in India, thought to be driven by the B.1.617 ‘Indian’ strain, Spain has now confirmed 10 cases of the variant as well as 17 suspected infections.
The latest cases come mainly from the four further members of crew of a ship docked in Vigo, Galicia, who have tested positive for the strain following three other cases reported on the same ship on April 30.
Four crew members are now in hospital in the Galician city of Pontevedra, with one in intensive care. The remaining 18 crew on board the ‘Prometheus Leader’ are now in quarantine and being monitored by health workers.
On Sunday, May 2, a man from Extremadura, western Spain, was also confirmed to have tested positive for the strain after attending a course in Madrid where he came into contact with another attendee from India.
The man is now in quarantine at home in Extremadura, while officials are monitoring those he has come into contact with, including other course attendees and the health workers who have treated him.
A further two cases of the strain have also now been confirmed in Catalonia.
Meanwhile, Spanish authorities have identified a further 17 suspected cases in Spain, including 13 crew aboard two ships in Valencia, three among the crew on board a ship docked in Bilbao, and four on an oil tanker docked in the Canary Islands.
Despite concerns that the new B.1.617 strain is behind the current outbreak in India, the World Health Organisation has called it a “variant of interest” and not the highest alert level, a “variant of concern.”
Spanish authorities will maintain rules enforcing a day 10 quarantine on those travelling to the country from India for at least a further two weeks, however, in a bid to prevent the further spread of the variant after the number of confirmed cases have more than doubled in the past two days.
Meanwhile, the European Commission has announced that it will allocate an initial €2.2 million in emergency funding to respond to the drastic surge in COVID-19 cases in India. The funding will support the World Health Organization (WHO) for a 6-month case management of COVID-19 patients, as well as strengthening laboratory capacity for COVID-19 testing. Member States have already mobilised supplies of urgently needed oxygen, ventilators and medicines from Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Sweden to India over the last week via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.
Image: aid being sent to India by EU member states © Ministry of Internal Affairs Romania, 2021 and © Embassy of Belgium in India, 2021.
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