COVID-19: Spain celebrates end of lockdown, experts warn 'pandemic is not over'

After Spaniards came down on streets and celebrated the end of a six-months lockdown, a key expert warned that the coronavirus pandemic is far from over. According to the reports by Dpa International, the president of Spain's Epidemiological Society, Elena Vanessa Martinez, warned there are still many infected people who could further spread the virus. She said that she is ‘concerned’ about the false security signal sent with the end of the emergency and the end of the night curfew.

Most restrictions, including the nationwide night curfew, were lifted in most places. However, it will remain in force in several others. As per the new orders, travel within Spain is also allowed again. Also, in-person family visits are now allowed. As per the reports by Dpa International, officials are concerned that the past year could repeat itself. 

Mayor appeals to behave responsibly 

According to the reports by The Guardian, the mayor of Madrid appealed for people to behave responsibly. José Luis Martínez-Almeida urged the  people to remember the rules after scenes of drinking, jubilation and often maskless celebrations were seen on various social media platforms. Most of the restrictions in Spain expired at Sunday midnight.

10-day quarantine for travellers arriving from India

While Spain has allowed travel, during late April it said that it will impose a 10-day quarantine on all travellers arriving from India. While speaking at a news conference, government spokeswoman Maria Jesus Montero informed that the measure will apply to people who travelled via third countries. This is because there are no direct flights between India and Spain. 

It is worth noting that Spain has also imposed a 10-day quarantine on passengers arriving from Brazil, Peru and Colombia as well as nine nations in Africa, including South Africa and Mozambique. However, Spain’s chief epidemiologist said that there was no reason to be currently concerned about the spread of the Indian variant in Spain as more than 90 per cent of new cases detected are the so-called British variant. Further, Spain’s Foreign Ministry also recommended that Spanish citizens currently in India return home as soon as possible.

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