The Community of Madrid and the city of Barcelona, main sources of the coronavirus outbreak in Spain, next Monday they will advance to “phase 1” of the deconfinition plan. In this way, they will be able to co-operate with various areas of the country that have already been making their controls more flexible. The inhabitants of both regions up to a maximum of ten people can be reunited with family and friends. further bars and restaurants will be allowed to open their doors, serving only in outdoor spaces. On the last 24 hours Spain registered 56 deaths and 446 new positive cases, affirming its downward curve.
Madrid outdoors
Spain will take a decisive step by lifting restrictions on the country’s two most populous cities. Since two weeks the coronavirus is in clear decline in these areas, informed the main adviser of the government in sanitary matter Fernando Simón. “If we maintain the precautionary measures and we are careful in returning to activities, we can be very close to having the virus at practically undetectable levels,” said Simon. The expert indicated that small nuclei appeared with coronavirus outbreaks but without a real impact.
From May 25 also the opening of hotel establishments and museums will be allowed, with a limit of 30 percent of its capacity. Too group sports or hike. With Madrid and Barcelona, the community of Castilla y León is also advancing. Whereby on Monday all Spain will be at least in phase 1 highlighted the Spanish Minister of Health, Salvador Illa. The vast majority of the country’s regions that were already in the first of the three levels will go to phase 2. In it Bars and restaurants can already serve their customers indoors.
The Spanish health authorities rejected for two weeks the request of the Madrid regional government to advance in the relaxation of the confinement. For more than two months the city has been under tight control to prevent the advance of covid-19. The Madrid president, the conservative Isabel Díaz Ayuso, attributed the veto to political motivations. But experts from the Ministry of Health explained that the region did not meet all the requirements established to pass the phase. Ayuso, who is part of the Popular Party (PP), even filed an appeal with the Supreme Court. According to the official, the confinement caused 18,000 jobs to be lost every week.
After the announcement of the phase step, the Madrid president celebrated the decision. However, he warned that there may be some upturns, although he also stressed that the health system is better prepared. In addition, he called on citizens to act “responsibly” and support “health workers in the economy,” such as merchants. Relaxation from confinement is quite a challenge in terms of managing to avoid a regrowth.
Barcelona: alert on the beaches
For their part, the Barcelona authorities warned citizens to comply with social distancing. In the last days the beaches were filled with people during the hours when walking and sports are allowed. “The citizens have made a great effort to achieve these measures (…) walks can be taken avoiding crowds but bathing on the beaches is not yet lost “, stressed the mayor of the city, Ada Colau. For now, there is no homogeneous protocol throughout Spain regarding the use of beaches, but the authorities are working on a draft. It is planned to limit the influx of people by enabling shifts, delimiting spaces, increasing signaling and using drones to control if there are crowds, according to the Spanish Television (TVE). “The protocol of the beaches has to be communicated when it is more advanced to not generate confusion in the citizenryColau noted.
The Spanish government decontamination plan is one of the strictest in Europe. It imposes a 15-day quarantine to foreigners that they arrive in the country while the state of alarm lasts, which will be extended until at least June 7. Since last Thursday it is mandatory to wear a mouth cap in open and closed spaces, including stores, as long as the two-meter interpersonal security space cannot be guaranteed. Since the pandemic broke out, a total of 28,628 people died in Spain due to the coronavirus. While 234,824 people were infected.
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