Andalusia Will Ease Covid Restrictions From October 1
Spain News
Published: 29 September 2021 14:34 CET
Andalusia’s regional government has announced that it will ease Coronavirus restrictions in health districts with less than 50 infections per 100,000 people from Friday.
The regional government’s Public Health Alerts Advisory Council had previously met to establish whether coronavirus control measures could be relaxed further in the region.
Following the meeting at the San Telmo Palace, it was decided that capacity limits and time restrictions for shops, hotels and other venues would be removed from midnight on October 1.
However, this would only apply to those health districts where the infection rate was below 50 per 100,000 inhabitants.
President of the Junta de Andalucia, Juan Moreno said on Tuesday that all health districts in the region that were considered to be ‘low risk’ or Level 0 would be able to return to normality.
The committee of experts agreed that theatres, concert halls, auditoriums, museums, sports stadiums and other venues would be permitted 100% capacity, as long as the districts were categorised as being in Level 0 or Level 1.
Although there is no area at Level 0, it is expected that the territorial committees will adjust the map of levels with effect from Friday so that normality will be restored to approximately half of the region’s districts.
In a statement, the Junta de Andalucia said, “100% capacity could be applied from Thursday in shows, museums, auditoriums and other venues at local, regional and provincial levels since all the health districts of the community are already at Level 1.”
However, the Junta stressed that basic safety and hygiene regulations including the wearing of masks and social distancing must continue to be respected where necessary.
During his speech, the Junta’s president Juan Moreno announced that face-to-face appointments within the primary care system would return, however, telephone consultations will still be used for prescriptions requests and for test result enquiries.
"It is about making the most of our resources and providing all kinds of facilities to patients. We know that there is room for improvement and, therefore, we will continue to focus on primary care. I guarantee you that this is my purpose and that of my Government, to improve our health a little more every day", explained the Andalusian president.
Moreno took a moment to point out that the situation was a lot better than it was a year ago when the autonomous community had to be closed to prevent further contagion.
He said, “A miracle has happened; it’s called a vaccine and the public health system.”
Moreno thanked healthcare professionals for their efforts, pointing out that this week 90% of Andalusian’s over twelve years of age would be immunised against the virus meaning that it has outperformed many countries including Ireland, Austria, Switzerland, Greece, Norway, Finland and Sweden.
The president also reflected on how the pandemic had impacted Andalusian’s with more than 11,000 having lost their lives to the virus.
He said, "Let's think about how much it has cost us to get here. The rights we had to renounce, the suffering we have had to suffer and the jobs that have been lost. Let's not relax and be aware that, at any moment, the tables may turn again.
"Nobody guarantees us that in a few weeks or a few months we will have a new variant here that forces us to take new restrictions. Let us be prudent and look at what we have," Moreno warned.
He asserted that the Andalusian government would not be relaxing their efforts highlighting that they had already started to vaccinate the elderly in care homes with a third booster jab.
Those between the ages of 5 to 11 years would also be vaccinated at the end of October once authorised by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
According to the latest data from the Ministry of Health, as of Tuesday, September 28, 77.6% of Andalusians had been fully vaccinated with 88.1% having received at least one vaccine dose.
Source
https://www.juntadeandalucia.es/presidencia/portavoz/gobiernoaldia/164802/JuanmaMoreno/Gobiernoandaluz/Andalucia/pandemia/medidas/ComitedeExpertos/reunion/atencionprimaria/ligasprofesionales/normalidad/Covid19
http://www.surinenglish.com/national/202109/29/junta-eases-more-coronavirus-20210929094754.html
https://www.mscbs.gob.es/profesionales/saludPublica/ccayes/alertasActual/nCov/documentos/Informe_GIV_comunicacion_20210928.pdf
Image Credit: Junta de Andalucia
