Anthony Piovesan
More than 50 million people who travelled to Spain during the Covid-19 pandemic used the government’s health app to help ensure the disease was kept out of the country.
New Spanish Ministry of Health data released this week revealed 52,709,223 travellers – or 94.12% of people who arrived in Spain during the pandemic – used the Spain Travel Health (SpTH) application.
The system was launched in April 2020, in a bid to control how many people with coronavirus were coming through the borders, and try to relieve demand in Spanish hospitals.
In a statement issued, the Spanish government said the data showed that the system protected public health and guaranteed the safe resumption of the economy.
“SpTH’s success is reflected in the degree of traveler satisfaction and the low level of litigation it has generated since only four claims were registered,” it read.
The government also noted that the app was launched in record time as countries scrambled to respond to the global health crisis as it unfolded.
Last month, the Spanish government announced that the country’s Ministry of Health decided to automatically update all EU digital certificates for Covid-19.
The Ministry will only update the certificates issued by the Ministry itself – as a result, the Ministry has started sending electronic notifications with the updated form.
Once citizens whose certificates have been updated receive the notification, they will have the opportunity to download the updated certificate with the new validity period.
Each person who wants to renew their certificate can reapply for the document through the Ministry of Health website.
The government abolished all entry measures for third-country travellers in October, but recently Spain imposed mandatory testing for arrivals from China as it faced a surge in the number of Covid-19 infections.
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