Madeira now considered Covid-19 high risk area on EU travel maps
What was the only territory in Portugal still in 'orange', the Madeira island is now covered in 'red' (meaning 'high risk') on the ECDC maps of combined indicators.
Madeira on Thursday is considered to be ‘high risk’ for the epidemiological situation of Covid-19 on the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control’s (ECDC) maps, which aim to assist travel decisions in the European Union (EU).
What was the only territory in Portugal still in ‘orange’, is now covered in ‘red’ (meaning ‘high risk’) on the ECDC maps of combined indicators, covering case notification rates in the past 14 days, the number of tests performed and the total number of positives, which are updated weekly on Thursdays.
The ‘red’ category means that, in these European regions, the cumulative 14-day reporting rate ranges from 75 to 200 per 100,000 population or is greater than 200 and less than 500 per 100,000 population and the test positivity rate is 4% or more.
Previously, Madeira was in the ‘orange’ (where the notification rate of new infections is between 50 and 75 per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days or between 75 and 200 per 100,000 inhabitants and the positive test rate is 1% or 4% or more, respectively), after having been in the ‘green’ (less than 50 new cases and a positivity rate of less than 4%, or less than 75 cases but with a positivity rate of less than 1%).
In mid-July, mainland Portugal was in ‘red’ on these ECDC maps, with the exception of Madeira and the Azores, the latter archipelago having moved into the ‘high risk’ category a few days later.
These maps from the European agency follow a system of traffic lights on the spread of Covid-19 in the EU, starting from green (favourable situation), passing through orange, red and dark red (very dangerous situation).
They serve as an aid to member states on what restrictions to apply to travel within the EU.
