Spain's health minister Carolina Darias and regional health chiefs decided on Wednesday to cut the isolation period for people who tested positive for Covid-19 to seven days from 10 days, the health ministry said in a statement.
Spanish authorities followed other countries such as the United States where many asymptomatic people have to isolate causing disruptions in industries for lack of staff.
Meanwhile, France’s government is forging ahead with efforts to increase pressure on unvaccinated people to get coronavirus shots, as the country reported 208,000 new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday – a record fuelled by the Omicron variant.
Health minister Olivier Veran defended a government plan to allow only the fully vaccinated to enjoy continued access to places such as restaurants, cinemas, theatres, museums and sports arenas.
The pass will also be required on long-distance trains and domestic flights.
Mr Veran said at a parliamentary hearing that the record number of infections means that more than two French people are testing positive every second for Covid-19.
