ARCHIVED - Flights are still coming into Corvera airport and road accesses are not blocked at the moment

Aena and the Guardia Civíl both confirm that there are no restrictions at the moment

Many readers are emailing and phoning to ask about whether there are any restrictions relating to the airport and access to the airport.

Obviously many residents will either be flying back to their homes in Spain or are scheduled to fly out from either Corvera or Alicante airports during the next few days.

Aena has confirmed tonight that at the moment there are no restrictions on flights landing at the airports from the UK or many other European destinations, although there are 62 countries refusing to allow flights from Spain to land in their countries or imposing quarantine restrictions on passengers arriving from Spain.

21 countries have established some type of ban on the entry of people from Spain or have suspended air and / or maritime communications.

These are Saudi Arabia, El Salvador, Slovakia, the United States (affects 26 European countries), the Philippines, Guatemala (all Europeans), India, Iraq, Israel (all non-residents), Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan , Kuwait (ban on all non-nationals), Malta, Morocco, Montenegro, Qatar, the Czech Republic, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela.

Another 26 are imposing quarantine regulations for travellers originating from Spain: Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Burundi, Chile, China, Cyprus, Colombia, Cuba, Georgia, Japan, Kiribati, Kuwait, Laos, Liberia, North Macedonia, Mozambique , Myanmar, Niger, Peru, Rwanda, Romania, Russia (Moscow), Samoa, Thailand and Uganda.

15 other countries require some other measure in case of travel: Belgium, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Denmark, Egypt, Germany, Estonia, Haiti, Honduras, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Nepal, Ukraine and Vietnam.

Given these measures and the increase in flight cancellations to and from Spain related to the COVID19, the Spanish Foreign Ministry has recommended that Spanish residents avoid non-essential trips abroad.

At the moment all flights scheduled to land at both Alicante and Corvera can still do so and there are no restrictions or roadblocks on the roads.

Corvera airport is within the Murcia municipality, so is not affected by the lockdown in coastal areas which only relates to Águilas, Mazarrón, Cartagena, San Pedro del Pinatar, San Javier, Los Alcázares and La Unión.

The Guardia Civíl have said tonight that at the moment they have not been ordered to establish any physical roadblocks in the municipalities affected to prevent residents from coming and going, but that situation could change at any minute.

The Policia Local has been ordered to maintain patrols to ensure that residents are observing the lockdown request of the regional government and are not gathering in the streets.

The Guardia Civíl communications department said that it was unlikely that residents within the lockdown area would be prevented from picking up and dropping off passengers at the airport, and any changes to their instructions would be communicated to residents.

They stressed the need for the public to respect the lockdown and only make essential journeys to buy food and medication.

Foreign Office advice:
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advise against all but essential travel to the following regions that the Spanish Ministry of Health have designated as areas of community transmission of coronavirus: Madrid and La Rioja, and the municipalities of La Bastida and Vitoria (both in the Basque Country) and Miranda de Ebro (in Castilla y León).

At the moment there are no official recommendations against travelling to the Spanish Costas, including the Region of Murcia.

Please follow Murcia Today on Facebook to keep up to date with all the latest updates locally for the Region of Murcia and the main information for the rest of Spain: https://www.facebook.com/MurciaToday/. Please note, Facebook is limiting the number of posts we are able to make in local groups, and the sheer volume of incoming information is overwhelming, so all updates and cancellations of events etc in the Murcia region will be posted on this main page and may not be shared into many local groups. PLEASE help to support the flow and sharing of information by following this page and sharing the information into groups to which you have access.

What to do if you are in the Region of Murcia and believe you may have contracted the virus

The regional government has set up a special helpline to supply information to members of the public (900 121212), and also urges people to call the 112 emergency services line if they suspect that they may have contracted the virus rather than going straight to hospital or to a medical centre. Medical staff will be sent to your home to test for the virus.

The Region’s public hospitals have limited the number of visitors to just one per patient.

Sensible precautions

The advice being issued to members of the public by medical authorities all over the world coincides on the following points:

- Wash hands frequently with either soap and water or a sanitiser gel

- Catch coughs and sneezes with disposable tissues – and throw the tissues away immediately after use before immediately washing your hands!

- If you don’t have a tissue, use your sleeve – and wash the item of clothing used at the next opportunity

- AVOID touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands

- AVOID close contact with people who are unwell

- Don´t panic!