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Germany imposes compulsory quarantine for Spain travellers; health minister criticises 'party holidays'

WION Web Team
Berlin, GermanyUpdated: Aug 16, 2020, 05:43 AM IST
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Photograph:(Reuters)

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The decision was taken after coronavirus cases rose from 1,415 to 222,828 in Germany

It is the time of the year when people like to unwind a little from their hectic schedules and head to the beaches, or other countries, for a much-needed break. However, the German Health Minister feels these "party holidays" show irresponsible behaviour in a pandemic.

As the cases have been on a constant rise in specific regions of Spain, Germany decided to impose a compulsory two-weeks quarantine rule for all travelers coming from Spain.

“I know how much the Germans love Spain ... But unfortunately the infection rates there are rising sharply, too sharply,” Jens Spahn told a local newspaper.

After Germany coronavirus tally rose from 1,415 to 222,828, the biggest increase since late April, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious disease, the government decided to declare all of Spain, except for the the Canary Islands, a virus risk area, and imposed a compulsory quarantine.

“Whoever goes to Spain despite the warning should protect themselves and others while on holiday. Party holidays are irresponsible in this pandemic,” he added.

This decision will be affecting the number of tourists flocking through the borders, and that has put the livelihoods of vendors of the tourist island of Mallorca in danger. The locals of the Mallorca island, a popular tourist attraction, have voiced their concerns against this move asking the government to look into it as the local vendors believe that if they close their shop, they won't be able to even re-open, let alone survive the pandemic.

The concerns were raised after majority of the big travel agencies, such as Europe's popular company TUI, cancelled all German packages to Spain, due to the fear in spread of the novel coronavirus.

There are currently around 30,000 Germans on holiday with tour operators in Spain’s Balearic islands, the vast majority in Mallorca, plus more independent travellers, the German travel association said.