Catalonia Plans To Impose Curfews And Limit Gatherings To 10 People Due To Rising Infections
Spain News
Published: 21 December 2021 14:28 CET
The regional government of Catalonia announced on Monday that it plans to re-implement a curfew from 1 am to 6 am and limit gatherings to 10 people due to a spike in infections.
However, any new measures which are considered to affect people’s fundamental rights will first need to be approved by the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC.
The plans were announced by spokesperson Patrícia Plaja, at a press conference together with the Minister of Health, Josep Maria Argimon, and the Secretary of Public Health, Carmen Cabezas, where they also announced the closure of nightlife venues, a capacity limit of 50% for restaurants and 70% for shops, gyms, sports. They will also recommend that the public telecommute as much as possible to reduce the spread of Covid.
Plaja said that the regional government would present the measures to the TSJC probably on Wednesday with the intention that they come into force at midnight on Thursday, December 23.
The initial restrictions would last for 15 days, however, the government said that it did not rule out an extension for a longer period if it felt this was necessary.
Argimon said that the traditional Christmas parades would not be suspended. He said, "They are outside, there are no large crowds, perhaps only in Barcelona, but it is important that they exist".
He has also stressed that there will be no effects on schools or universities.
Plaja said that the government appreciated the impact it would have on the public but said that the measures would not be implemented unless they were not strictly necessary.
“This last week everything has changed and, despite vaccination, a percentage of those infected will end up hospitalised, so it is essential to reduce mobility and interaction. We said that we had no intention of establishing new restrictions, but growth is beginning to be overwhelming,” she said.
Official figures published on Monday by the Ministry of Health show that there are now 1,954 people in Catalonian hospitals due to Covid-19 with 385 in ICU with the forecast of 500 by the end of the year.
Argimon said that in the last week the number of positive results from antigen tests had more than doubled, highlighting the importance of the booster vaccination. He said that if the vaccination was not open to other age groups, it could lead to “competition” for appointments meaning that those in the most vulnerable groups could miss out.
In regards to the Omicron variant, he said, “as it is more transmissible, it is very easy to collapse our health services" underlining the importance of "preserving our system so that it can respond to what is covid and also what is not".
Source
https://www.20minutos.es/noticia/4930454/0/cataluna-preve-implantar-toque-queda-reuniones-maximo-10-personas-ante-subida-contagios/
Image Credit: https://govern.cat/
