Covid: Mallorca outbreak hits students at home and away. Party people infected or in quarantine

STUDENT trips to the holiday island of Mallorca have been blamed for 1,000 people across eight Spanish regions testing positive for coronavirus – and thousands forced to quarantine.

On Tuesday hotels on the island had 262 youths confined to their rooms in
quarantine, leading to claims of ‘kidnapping’ and being ‘illegally detained’ on social media.

The government reports more than 2,000 people are in quarantine in Madrid alone; there are related cases in Galicia, the Valencia region, the Basque Country, Murcia, Castilla-La Mancha, Aragón and Catalonia. An 18-year-old in Elche is being treated in intensive care after an end-of-year trip0 to the island.

Every year around 12,000 students travel to Mallorca to celebrate the end of term.

Some have completed university entrance exams, others completing their final year at secondary school. They are aged between 15 and 18 and are accompanied by adult ‘monitors’ and use specialised travel agency trips.

Typically, there are parties in hotel rooms, parties in the street, parties on cruises and a string of concerts. This year, June arrivals found nightlife was returning to normal after Covid-19 restrictions were eased.

According to experts, this year’s trips amounted to a ‘super-spreader’ event with a lack of social distancing, sharing drinks and cigarettes, and singing together.

Written by BayRadio