Laurence Dollimore
AN Italian doctor who was holidaying in Tenerife has tested positive for coronavirus, health chiefs have confirmed.
The tourist is the second case detected on the Canary Island following a German holidaymaker who was admitted to La Gomera hospital earlier this month.
Health Minister Salvador Illa called for calm tonight, adding that he wants to convey ‘a message of confidence in the national health system and in our professionals.’
It comes as Italy has seen seven deaths and at least 218 cases from the virus, which first appeared in Wuhan, China in December last year.
Spain has had nine suspected cases ruled out today – including the two in Malaga – with another three awaiting their results.
A fourth case is also being studied in Asturias, according to Spanish daily El Mundo.
The 25-year-old woman presented flu-like symptoms and had just returned from Italy when she was taken into isolation at 10pm tonight.
An emergency meeting of the inter-territorial health council has been called tomorrow to discuss potential preventative measures at airports, ports and borders.
Meanwhile, Spain’s IBEX experienced a ‘black Monday’, shedding €20.929 billion in value.
It comes as a spike in cases in South Korea and Italy has put the fear into investors.
Italy was left worse off, with its FTSE MIB losing 5.4% of its value.
“The main problem is the inability to make real assessments of how much this health crisis could impact,” said Victoria Torre from Singular Bank.
She told El Mundo: “The global impact could be much greater (than SARS) and it is very difficult to predict the magnitude.”
