85 New Cases of Covid this Monday

Tobi Hughes·
Madeira News

Today, 85 new cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection are reported in RAM, with only one being imported and the rest of local transmission.

There is also an indication of another 72 recovered cases, and the Region currently has 817 active cases, of which 38 are imported and 779 are of local transmission.

Previous Article2 more deaths with Covid-19
Next ArticleCARGO MAKES SICK WITH SUSPECTED COVID-19 IN MADEIRA
Tobi Hughes

11 Responses

  1. We have just cancelled yet again our visit to Funchal planned over 2 weeks at Christmas, this is now the second year we have done this. After the UK Government imposed another set of tests, this time before leaving to fly back to the UK. In all, this would have meant we would have had to have 5 tests in all after arriving back into the UK.That is if we did not prove positive taking a PCR test at Madeira Airport. God knows what issues would be then! We would not allow our UK Government to say to us that you are not welcome to return to the UK if you have proven positive before you fly back. Bear in mind that the new strain already exists in the UK, so why would there be a problem. Apart from having this grief, then we were to wear masks inside/out whilst in Madeira and show negative test results when using transport/restaurants etc. So no wonder we have cancelled our stay this year. This would not have been a relaxing holiday.

    Roger W

  2. Roger totally agree no place to holiday now in Madeira this had become a control freak island all they are doing is damaging tourism 4 of my friends also cancelled there trip to Madeira for this Christmas what a shame the government is killing the economy tourists have lost interest who can blame them its not applying all these useless restrictions.

  3. On the flipside, with the entire island testing weekly, the new cases don’t seem to be rising expect exponentially, so their caution appears to be working.

    The tests are a pain, but not unreasonably so and certainly not at the Madeira end. If you are double jabbed, you don’t need a test to enter the island,but you will need a (free) lateral flow once a week to access restaurants etc (which seems fair). To fly home you can get away again with a (free) lateral flow, after which it is a case of a Day 2 PCR which can be bought for as little as £40 and will involve a couple of days at home until the result is in.

    For sure, if you test positive while in Madeira, that will create a problem, but that is not the fault.of Madeira. If you test positive anywhere you will have to self-isolate until testing negative.

    None of this is going to stop me from going (on Saturday). I am going to take a ‘fit to fly’ lateral flow a couple of hours before I leave for the airport which will avoid the ‘what if I get to there and test positive) and give me a certificate valid on the island for a week.

  4. Are the increase in cases due to the large testing regime? And if so are there large queues everywhere for testing?
    we are due to visit in 3 weeks for 3 weeks,hesitant but still going to go.Just hope we don’t test positive at any stage?

    Merry Christmas everyone…

    1. The testing is much easier now more testing places, and less people taking test, as they have seen they are not needed for the things they do.

  5. I sit somewhere between Roger and AL. Having thought about it, lateral flow testing is pretty easy and the day two PCR test on return can be tolerated. Isolating at home is easy for us being retired but I understand is not so easy for others. The jeopardy, as Roger points out is a positive test whilst in Madeira or the rules changing necessitating hotel quarantine. At the moment this doesn’t look likely and we are tired of hiding behind the sofa every time a new variant is discovered. There is some very good news from WHO this morning about the effectiveness of vaccines against Omicron and the likely milder nature of Omicron infection but of course it is not very prominent because it is not as interesting or marketable as a screaming doomsday headline. I can fully understand those who decide not to travel as well as those who will go ahead and enjoy their holiday.

  6. If they red list Madeira, they must surely red list all of Europe, which quite clearly is practically impossible. The previous red-listing last year was pretty clearly a (petty) political retaliation for Portugal banning direct travel from the UK after the arrival of the UK-variant. The new Omicron variant is already Europe-wide, so i guess they either completely shut down international travel, or they don’t. I could be completely wrong on all of this, but it’s no longer about keeping the variant out, as it’s already here (although apparently not in Madeira which does create the possibilty of the island pulling down the shutters, but i cannot see this happening after the last time as it would pretty much finish off the island’s economy).

      1. More good news on Omicron from Phizer this evening. Their vaccine, particularly the booster jab provides effective protection from serious disease.

  7. Just spent a week on Madeira. Had lateral flow the afternoon before we left and carried results and NHs vaccination proof with us. Went in lots of cafes and restaurants in south west of island and also in Funchal and nobody asked to see anything.
    Had a lateral flow at Hospital Particular to come back, free if you have Madeira safe qr code, results on phone while driving back from hospital

  8. An extra complication for those flying back to the UK around the Christmas period is that a large number of the more reputable companies that provide the “waiting for you when you get home” PCR tests are withdrawing the service from over the Christmas period. This is due to the large number of public holidays this year (25th 26th 27th 28th) They cannot guarantee getting the tests to customers and while the priority post boxes the majority use to return the tests will be emptied deliveries will not be made to the testing centres until the 29th at the earliest.
    Due to arrive back in the UK on the 27th we have struggled to find a company that we can order from. The best we have found is Assured Testing who have an onsite centre open a 30 min drive away. They usually provide a at home test with their own drop box but will not be providing that over Xmas and NY.
    As we both will be 40 days recovered from Covid we have also been advised that there is a good chance that this PCR test will return a false positive and that could lead to a further 10 day isolation a risk we cannot take.
    So much as we both desperately need a holiday it looks like a 4th rebooking for our trip.

Comments are closed.

© 2023 Madeira Island News | Privacy Policy