Spanish police are currently looking for a Belgian couple that evaded an obligatory corona-test, saying the duo “committed crimes against public health”.
The unnamed Belgian citizens were set to be tested last Sunday at the Barbanza hospital in A Coruña, a city in the north-western province of Galicia.
When they did not show up, the hospital notified the police who started actively searching for the couple, local newspapers reported Monday morning.
Police fear the couple might carry the virus and could currently be putting Spanish citizens at risk. According to scientists, one infected person could transfer the virus to many others, Het Nieuwsblad reports.
If they are indeed carriers of the virus, the couple's visit could initiate an exponential rise of infections, with a possible lockdown and grave damage to the local economy as a result.
In Galicia, 321 people were diagnosed with corona last Sunday, with a rise of 13 cases in comparison to the day before.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) reported on Monday morning that Spain has the second-most recorded cases of Covid-19 at 288,522 cases, following the UK (304,695). Since the start of the pandemic, 1,738,097 people have tested positive for corona in Europe.
No further details on the couple were revealed to the public.
Amée Zoutberg
The Brussels Times
