Spain will ease the current containment measures as of Monday, but the Madrid and Barcelona regions, hardest hit by the pandemic, will stay a few more days in the current phase of fighting the pandemic.
The Minister of Health, Santiago Illa, explained today in a press conference that the territories that will pass from Monday to the second stage (phase one) of the end of the confinement correspond to “just over half, 51%, of the population ”Who lives in Spain.
The country’s largest population clusters, Madrid and Barcelona, will continue for a few more days in the current “phase zero”, the first stage of the dismantling of the containment measures that started last Monday.
“At this moment, the most important thing is to consolidate the end of the confinement”, insisted Santiago Illa, who stressed the need for “prudence, prudence and prudence”.
While the regional government of Catalonia had asked that Barcelona not move on to the next phase, Madrid’s gave a favorable opinion to this evolution, against the opinion of the regional health official who resigned.
The central government agrees that the country’s capital is capable of serving the current number of patients with covid-19, but prefers to wait until the primary care detection system is more consolidated to approve the phase change, which may happen at the end of next week.
In the documentation submitted by Madrid to justify the relief of the measures in force, it was argued that, since April, there was a decrease of 84% in the number of patients hospitalized in the Community and 64% in the number of patients admitted to intensive care units.
Most of the Spanish autonomous communities have asked for this relief from the very strict measures in force and argue that their provinces are ready to allow, among other things, meetings for up to 10 people outside or inside the home, so that they can go to small businesses. without prior appointment or the opening of terraces with an occupancy of half the seats.
Some other areas of Catalonia and also several of the Community of Castile and Leon, some bordering Portugal, also remain in the current phase of confinement.
For example, in Andalusia, all provinces pass to the next stage except those of Malaga and Granada.
Both the provinces of Galicia and those of Spanish Extremadura bordering Portugal move on to phase one.
Spain started last Monday the first step of easing the measures in place to fight covid-19 (called phase zero), with the partial opening of small street shops, such as barbershops, hairdressers and restaurants that started selling food to take and by appointment.
In general terms, the opening of stores with an area of up to 400 square meters was authorized, provided that customers have an appointment to be served individually (one employee per customer) and respecting a minimum distance of two meters.
In the regions that next Monday pass to the second stage of the end of the confinement (phase one), meetings of up to 10 people outside or inside the house are allowed, among other measures, consumers can go to the small street market without prior appointment. and the opening of terraces is authorized, with an occupancy of up to half of the seats.
The survey of the measures in force that restrict the mobility of citizens should only end at the end of a fourth stage (phase three), in late June or early July.
Madrid is the Spanish region most affected by the pandemic, with 8,552 deaths to date, 33% of the national total, and 64,333 cases (24%) confirmed of infection by the coronavirus that causes covid-19.
Catalonia has a total of 51,733 (23%) of confirmed cases with covid-19 and 5,471 (21%) deaths, but the main source of concern is that, for example, today there were 58 new patients admitted to their intensive care units, 68% of the national total.
Spain is one of the countries hardest hit by the covid-19, which globally, according to a report by the AFP news agency, has already caused about 267 thousand deaths and infected more than 3.8 million people in 195 countries and territories.
The country recorded 229 deaths in the last 24 hours due to the covid-19 pandemic, a slight increase from 213 on Thursday, with a total of 26,299 deaths so far, according to health authorities.
According to the Spanish Ministry of Health, there are 1,095 new positive cases, a number that despite being higher than that of Thursday, maintains the trend of reduction of the last days, bringing to 222,857 the total of infected people confirmed by the PCR test, the most reliable in detecting the virus.
– .
