In a press conference this morning, Pedro Ramos, the Regional Secretary for Health and Civil Protection, revealed that only 10% of passengers arriving in the region are tested for the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Talking to local media outlet, JM, he said:
“At the beginning of July 2020, 50% of all passengers were tested upon arrival to Madeira. Right now, it’s 10%. In other words, 90% of all visitors have already been vaccinated, recovered or have taken a PCR test in their country of origin.”
The figures, he said, justify themselves, and since the creation of the screening facility at the airport, some 600,000 passengers have been tested.
Concluding, he said “although, the figures look good, and we hope to have 90% of the population vaccinated by the end of September/October, it is far too early to talk about reducing some of the current health and safety measures, and by that, I mean the use of face masks.”
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
