MADRID – From January 9, Spain will activate the sampling of wastewater from direct flights from China. This analysis aims to detect the possible arrival of interesting variants of Sars-CoV-2 at an early stage.
This was announced by the Minister of Health, Carolina Darias, at the meeting of the Interterritorial Council of the National Health System. In it, she informed members that since measures were imposed on passengers from China at the beginning of January, checks had been carried out on a total of 1,765 travellers, three of which were positive.
Three cases found
The three cases, representing 0.18% of the total number of samples, were confirmed by PCR. The virus lines were also monitored and found to be the same ones predominant in Spain as reported by the Ministry of Health.
Sampling of wastewater
During the meeting, Darias explained that, by the agreements made at the European level, from next Wednesday, the sampling of wastewater from direct flights from China will be activated “to detect early the possible arrival of interesting variants of the coronavirus.
Moreover, these measures are part of the agreed package given the epidemiological situation in China. There, the virus spread widely after the government lifted all corona measures such as confinement and travel restrictions from January 8.
Meanwhile, the current situation in Spain regarding the coronavirus remains good and is stable in all its indicators, according to the Minister of Health.
