People landed at Portuguese airports without negative test, recovery certificate

Police and border agents recorded 152 people who landed at Portuguese airports without a negative COVID-19 test or a recovery certificate on Wednesday, the ministry of internal administration tools Lusa on Thursday.

The ministry also said that at least 10 airlines were fined for transporting passengers without a negative COVID-19 test or recovery certificate, mandatory since Wednesday to enter mainland Portugal through air borders.

On the first day of the measure, police and the Foreigners and Borders Service inspected 29,331 passengers and 282 flights, which resulted in 152 administrative offences regarding passengers who travelled without a negative test.

Some 110 were issued by the police, which controls passengers on flights from the Schengen area, and 42 by the SEF, which supervises travellers from countries outside Schengen.

Airlines carrying passengers without a negative test for COVID-19 are fined between €20,000 and €40,000 per passenger, and travellers without tests risk a fine of between €300 and €800.

Exempted from the testing requirement, PCR or rapid, are passengers on domestic flights, those under 12 years of age, and crews.

Since Wednesday, mainland Portugal has been in a state of emergency due to the increase in the COVID-19 cases, and border rules are in force until 9 January 2022.

In Portugal, since March 2020, 18,471 people have died, and 1,154,817 cases of infection have been recorded, according to data from the Directorate-General of Health.

A total of 19 cases of the new variant, Omicron, have been identified in Portugal.

(Célia Paulo | Lusa.pt)