It is a misunderstanding from the German Government, the secretary of Tourism and Culture told Lusa News Agency.

Eduardo Jesus highlighted that there is no “reason to consider Madeira as a national whole and in a risk zone due to a variant [of Covid-19] that Madeira does not have”.

“Madeira does not want exceptional treatment, but wants positive discrimination because it has the conditions” for that, and “at this moment Madeira can claim it”, stressed the Madeira government.

Health authorities in Germany Friday placed Portugal on the red list, a decision that will take effect from 29 June and that will force all travelers coming from Portuguese territory into a 14-day quarantine.

“Portugal is classified as an area of ​​[SARS-CoV-2] variants of concern initially for two weeks,” announced the Robert Koch Institute, Germany's federal health agency, adding “that an extension” of this period “is possible”.

On Tuesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel criticized the lack of common rules in the European Union (EU) regarding travel and used as an example the increase in infections in Portugal, a situation that “could have been avoided”.

“This is an impact once again on a path that we were trying to consolidate in this early summer and that is by no means making life easier for Madeira”, he stressed.

“We appealed to the intervention of the Government of the Republic and, through the major operators with whom we had a relationship in Madeira, we sent the same information to the respective German officials, seeking to prevent this from happening”, he said.

The latest data released on Friday by the Regional Health Directorate indicate that Madeira registered nine new cases of Covid-19, 11 more recovered, has 65 active situations and five hospitalized patients, none in the intensive care unit.