Spanish authorities isolated about 1,000 guests and workers at a seaside hotel on the Canary island of Tenerife after an Italian tourist there initially tested positive for the coronavirus.
The people may not enter or leave the H10Costa Adeje Palaceuntil there is definitive confirmation on whether the tourist is infected, an official from the Canary Islands government confirmed by phone. The people are being held in preventive isolation, not under a formal quarantine, the person said.
“Guests will remain at the hotel until the results from the second test come out,” Spanish government spokeswoman Maria Jesus Montero told journalists on Tuesday. “Appropriate measures will be taken depending on the results.”
People at the hotel are being tested for symptoms of the virus, according to a statement by the islands’ healthcare department. It said further action will be decided later on Tuesday. That’s when the results are due of a final test of the Italian tourist.
A second case of coronavirus has been diagnosed in Catalonia, the region’s health department said in an emailed statement that gave no further details on the case. The Catalan government will give more information at a press conference at 4:30 p.m. local time, the statement said.
The Italian tourist is now held in isolation at the Hospital Universitario Nuestra Senora de La Candelaria in Tenerife, and two more people are in observation, according to the healthcare department. The man’s wife is in hospital, Montero said on Tuesday, without specifying if she was one of the people in observation. Her husband is a doctor from Lombardy, a region of northern Italy that is a principal focus of the outbreak in Europe, Efe news service reported.
Spain so far has reported onlytwo confirmed cases of coronavirus, a German citizen in the island of La Gomera in the Canary Islands off western Africa, and a resident in the island of Mallorca in the Mediterranean. Each of them recovered from the illness.
Coronavirus infections worldwide have jumped to almost 80,000, with more than 2,600 deaths, mainly in China.In Italy, which is hit with Europe’s largest outbreak of the virus, seven people have died, at least 283 have been infected and thousands remain in lockdown.
Authorities in Tenerife activated the coronavirus protocol on Feb. 24 when a local hospital confirmed the Italian citizen tested positive in an initial exam. Hotel owner H10 said in a statement it’s collaborating closely with health authorities and has implemented all recommended measures to ensure the safety of clients and employees.
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