Balearic Islands suffer first tourist outbreak of coronavirus after three members of one family test positive during holiday there
- The family are on the island of Menorca after arriving for a week’s holiday there
- All three tourists are Spanish and are currently isolated in a Ciutadella apartment
- They will soon be transferred to ‘bridge’ accommodation prepared for patients
- An investigation has been launched into who they may have had contact with
The Balearic Islands have suffered their first ‘tourist’ outbreak of coronavirus, it has been confirmed.
Three people from the same family have all tested positive after arriving for a week’s holiday in Menorca which has had a very low incidence of the disease.
Health chiefs say it is considered an outbreak if a minimum of three people are affected.
All three tourists are Spanish. The husband tested positive first of all, followed the next day by his wife and one of their children. Another of the family members has given a negative test.
They are all isolated in the apartment where they are staying in Ciutadella on the west side of Menorca but are about to be transferred to ‘bridge’ accommodation which might be one of the island hotels specifically prepared to take positive coronavirus patients who don’t need to be in hospital.
The Balearic Islands, pictured above on July 8, are expecting a wave of tourists from the United Kingdom in the coming days as a 14-day quarantine requirement is due to be lifted ahead of the weekend. 18 million British tourists visited Spain last year
Spokesman for the autonomous committee on infectious diseases, Javier Arranz confirmed the cases and said it is ‘the first tourist outbreak in the Balearics’.
‘This outbreak in Menorca is the first of tourists, nationals, not foreigners, but despite that it is also a family outbreak,’ he told the island’s newspapers.
The father, 44, started having a fever on Monday and decided to go to the emergency room of the Canal Salat in Ciutadella.
A PCR test confirmed the positive diagnosis and they have been in quarantine under follow-up by the Coronavirus Care Unit (UVAC). All three are said to have mild or no symptoms.
An investigation into who the family may have come into contact with is underway. Pictured: Tourists arrive at the Son Sant Joan airport in Palma de Mallorca on July 8, 2020
An investigation is underway to find people they may have mixed with but they are believed to have not mixed very much since arriving last Saturday.
Menorca currently has six active cases under home monitoring by the UVAC.
In the Balearic Islands, there are ten active outbreaks, eight are in Mallorca, one in Menorca and the other in Ibiza.
Despite the outbreaks, the spokesman for the infectious diseases committee has indicated that the epidemiological situation in the Balearic Islands is good.
There are 134 active cases of coronavirus on the islands and one death in the last week.
‘More than 80% are mild or asymptomatic cases,’ said Javier Arranz.
From Monday, the use of face masks becomes compulsory in the Balearics, for local residents and tourists but not on the beaches or in swimming pools.