British tourist jumps out of window to flee Spanish quarantine after positive Covid test
A British holidaymaker has been forced to quarantine in a Tenerife hotel after trying to fly back to the UK despite testing positive for Covid.
The tourist, described as a minor, was intercepted by police at the island airport when he tried to return home with his dad and grandfather.
Police were informed after the youngster, whose age has not been made public, fled a health centre where he had been given his fit-to-fly Covid test result by climbing through a window.
He was intercepted as he tried to board a plane to Britain after bringing forward his return home by buying a new ticket.
He is now doing 10 days of quarantine at a hotel in Tenerife.
Police say they are certain the youngster made a deliberate attempt to avoid self-quarantine after he discovered he had tested positive for coronavirus in an antigen test.
The airport stop occurred last week but has only just been made public.
It is not yet clear whether the boy’s relatives have remained in Tenerife or have flown home.
A spokesman for Spain’s National Police in the island capital Santa Cruz confirmed: “National Police officers detected a British minor who was with his dad and grandfather as he tried to return to the UK after testing positive in a Covid antigen test.
“He was on holiday in the south of Tenerife and went to a health centre to do the test. When he was told he had tested positive, he fled the centre by jumping through a window preventing health officials from adopting the standard protocol in these cases.
“The local airport authority was informed and surveillance established in an operation which involved the closure and monitoring of the airport entrances.
“Once the youngster had been picked up outside the airport, he was made to quarantine and told he would have to stay in a room at the hotel he had been checked into for 10 days.
“Health and court officials and prosecutors have been informed of the situation.”
It was not clear on Tuesday if the Briton would face a fine over his actions.
The Canary Islands-registered 141 new cases of coronavirus on Monday and five deaths. Tenerife had the most with 84, following by Gran Canaria with 38 and Lanzarote with 11.
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Published uk.news.yahoo.com 31 August 2021