COVID-19

Economic activity in Spain is expected to fall 11.6% this year – according to report from Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). A bounce-back in 2021 and 2022 will not make up for economic damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic this year. In Spain, not even the rollout of a vaccine and two years of uninterrupted growth – expected to be 5% in 2020 and 4% in 2021 – […]

The UK will be the first country in the world to use the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine. The UK's medicine regulator (MHRA) has said the jab is safe for rollout next week. Immunisations could start within days for the vaccine that offers up to 95% protection against infection by the coronavirus. The UK has already ordered 40m doses – enough to vaccinate 20m people. The first 800,000 doses will arrive in […]

Six autonomous communities remain on 'extreme' level 4 risk. Nine are on 'high' level 3 risk, one on 'low' level 1 risk. The Valencian Community has fallen from 'extreme' to 'high' risk after seeing coronavirus cases fall over the last week. The region's accumulated incidence has fallen to 234 cases per 100,000 over the last 14 days (250+ cases per 100,000 would be 'extreme' risk). This is below the worst […]

Spain's Banco de Alimentos saw users double from 1 million in January to over 1.8 million by November in 2020. The coronavirus pandemic has hit Spain's struggling families worse than the 2008 financial crisis, according to its principal food bank. Director general of Spain's network of 54 'Banco de Alimentos' – Miguel Fernández – said thousands of families have been gone hungry due to COVID-19 restrictions. Fernández said minors made […]

Spain’s secretary of state for health said: “If we really like Christmas, let’s try to make sure we’re all here for the next one”. The Spanish government has called on people to behave responsibly and use their 'common sense' after pictures over the weekend showed the streets of Madrid and other big cities heaving with crowds despite the ongoing struggle with the second wave of coronavirus. A combination of Black […]

Passengers can pre-book a PCR test for £60 – members of the public pay £99. Book Gatwick test here; Edinburgh here. Drive-through COVID-19 testing is now available at Gatwick and Edinburgh airports from £60. Passengers and staff can pre-book a PCR test on the ExpressTest website before receiving a QR code with their testing time. The facilities are open from 8am-8pm from Monday-Sunday including for members of the public, who […]

Researchers at the University of Barcelona found that COVID-19 patients complained of the same symptoms, aiding future diagnosis. The most-noted symptom was 'fatigue' – 97% of coronavirus-positive participants in the study complained of this symptom. Fatigue was followed by headache (88%), loss of smell (85%), loss of taste (79%), low-grade fever (82%) and a dry cough (74%). Nasal douche The study looked at 35 patients with mild symptoms – a […]

Passengers arriving in England can reduce mandatory self-isolation by at least a week – UK gov. new strategy for international arrivals. From 15th December, international arrivals in England will be able to reduce mandatory quarantine by a week. Tourists and residents will have the option to take a COVID-19 test after 5 days of self-isolation – a negative result will exempt them from further self-isolation. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps made […]