Canaries hotel locked down over coronavirus as Spain reports first mainland cases

[webfact]

Canaries hotel locked down over coronavirus as Spain reports first mainland cases

By Inti Landauro and Emma Pinedo

 

General view of H10 Hotel, which is on lockdown after novel coronavirus has been confirmed in Adeje, on the Spanish island of Tenerife, Spain February 25, 2020. REUTERS/Borja Suarez

 

MADRID (Reuters) - A large Canary Islands hotel was locked down for coronavirus tests on Tuesday after a guest and his wife were found to be infected, as Spain also reported its first three cases of the disease on the mainland.

 

Catalan regional health authorities said a 36-year old Italian woman, a Barcelona resident, had tested positive after a recent trip to the north of Italy.

 

Twenty-five people who came into contact with her will be quarantined at home for two weeks.

 

Shortly afterwards, authorities in Valencia and Madrid confirmed two more cases.

 

However, Spain's health minister, Salvador Illa, played down the severity of the outbreak, emphasizing that all cases have been imported from abroad and there has not yet been any domestic transmission of the infection.

 

The four-star H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel in Tenerife went into lockdown after an Italian doctor on holiday on the island tested positive for the virus on Monday. His wife tested positive on Tuesday, the regional government said.

 

The couple had been moved to a hospital isolation ward, and other hotel guests and staff would be tested for the virus, a process that will take some days, health authorities said.

 

Guests will remain there until the results of a second test on the doctor are determined and, depending on that outcome, "appropriate health measures will be taken", a Spanish government spokeswoman said.

 

The hotel has hundreds of rooms, several restaurants and swimming pools, and is located 50 metres (55 yards) from the beach.

 

More than 700 guests spanning 25 nationalities, as well as staff members, are stuck in the hotel, Canaries regional government leader Angel Victor Torres said.

 

On its Facebook page, the hotel said it planned a carnival party on Thursday evening. Its management declined to comment on Tuesday.

 

Christopher Betts, an English guest from Leicestershire, said by phone from his room that there were police cars stationed at all entrances.

 

"We're told we're in quarantine... The hotel seems to be acting normally, except that we cannot go out," he said, adding that guests had been allowed to have breakfast in the restaurant.

 

Medical staff took the guests' temperature with digital thermometers and provided them with masks but did not perform any other tests, Betts said.

Tens of thousands are expected this week in the Canary Islands for carnival festivities.

 

Spain's health ministry advises against travelling to newly designated at-risk zones, including China, northern Italy and Iran, but has held off on more drastic measures such as a travel ban.

 

Before Monday, Spain had identified two coronavirus cases - a German tourist in La Gomera, another Canary Island, and a British man in Mallorca.

 

(Additional reporting by Joan Faus, Paola Luelmo, Ingrid Melander and Nathan Allen; Editing by John Stonestreet, Marguerita Choy and Bill Berkrot)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-02-26

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[4MyEgo]

This is not a good sign, the spread has begun, watch Europe light up.

[FarFlungFalang]

Detaining people like they did on the ship and keeping large groups of none infected people together with infected people is a bit sus.Might be better to just let the virus do it’s thing instead of dragging it out.

[ChipButty]

Would they lock down a hotel in Thailand I ask myself? 

[FarFlungFalang]

1 hour ago, ChipButty said:

Would they lock down a hotel in Thailand I ask myself? 

Only if they refused to wear masks and were also falang,everybody else free to come and go as they please.

[justin case]

still freezing in west-europe ... they don't have that thai magical sun that kills the virus

[DrTuner]

Canary islands are a major tourist destination. Who knows how many returned home with a viral load. Now there'll be outbreaks all over.