The Government has expressed this Tuesday its concern about the evolution of the pandemic in Spain, which reaches a record in accumulated incidence and hospital occupation is progressively rising, and has shown its support for the autonomous communities that have approved or plan restrictions for New Year’s Eve . The Interterritorial Council could debate tomorrow the reduction of the quarantines of close contacts and of the asymptomatic
The Minister of Territorial Policy and Government Spokesperson Isabel Rodríguez (d) and the Minister of Labor Yolanda Díaz upon their arrival at the press conference after the weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers held at the Palacio de la Moncloa in Madrid, this Tuesday . EFE / Juan Carlos Hidalgo
“The Government endorses and supports the autonomous communities,” said its spokesperson, Isabel Rodríguez, at the press conference after the Council of Ministers, when asked about the restrictions to contain the spread of the virus aimed at limiting capacity, business hours and the hotel industry before New Year’s Eve and New Year.
“We follow with great attention, with concern, the evolution of the indicators”, said the spokeswoman for the Government.
Galicia and Euskadi are considering restrictions for the moment and Cantabria has already approved them, where from today nightlife will not be able to open and the hotel industry will have a capacity of 75% of its capacity in 50 of the 102 municipalities at a high level (3) of risk by contagion of covid-19, including all those with more than 5,000 inhabitants.
In addition, the Government of Aragon plans to publish an order this Tuesday to bring forward from Wednesday the closure of catering establishments at midnight and nightlife establishments at 02:00 until January 15, with a limitation in both cases of ten diners per table and prohibition of consuming standing.
The Government spokeswoman recalled that only 5 days ago the Chief Executive, Pedro Sánchez, met with the regional presidents. “Co-governance, the distribution of powers, has worked in this country,” said the minister, who defends the need to “adapt each response” to the situation of each territory.
Because, as he has said, they are the ones who best know the reality of the pandemic and the healthcare situation in their territory.
He has pointed out that the current data shows that in those groups where the injection of the booster dose had begun, it is in those that are least affected by the coronavirus and therefore he has requested that “the commitment of the autonomous communities and the Government” must address to intensify vaccination, which, however, must be accompanied by caution.
Above all, “given the incidence”, he has asked to be more careful in these days of festivities and family and friendly gatherings.
In addition, he has assured that the Government is willing to continue dialoguing with the autonomies and in this sense has alluded to the fact that the talks will continue tomorrow in the Interterritorial Health Council, which brings together the Minister of Health and the regional councilors of the branch every week .
Andalusia and Madrid put the reduction of quarantines on the table
The Andalusian Minister of Health, Jesús Aguirre, has reported this Tuesday that reducing quarantines in close contacts without symptoms is being studied, an approach that has also been put on the table by the Madrid Deputy Minister of Health Care and Public Health, Antonio Zapatero, They warn that the sixth wave needs to be tackled with different measures.
In Spain now these quarantines are only mandatory for unvaccinated people who have been close contacts without symptoms.
Aguirre explained at a press conference after the Andalusian Governing Council that the omicron variant causes more infections, but with less clinical incidence, so experts are approaching this sixth wave “in a different way”.
What is being analyzed is whether, for example, it is necessary for a close contact without symptoms to quarantine for ten days, if all contacts have to undergo a PCR or a test, or if the traceability of the cases should be left alone in those not vaccinated or who have symptoms, he has detailed.
He explained that only this week 250,000 tests have been carried out, which represents a million in a month, a “very large volume of personnel” within the Andalusian Health Service (SAS), so “it must be assessed if it has been efficient” .
According to Aguirre, these issues have already been discussed with the Ministry of Health, since this wave must be approached differently and that is why they are trying to “articulate the means we have within reality”.
For his part, the Madrid deputy minister recalled that the American Center for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) has raised the possibility of reducing the isolation or quarantine of asymptomatic patients from ten to five days and monitoring with a mask five days after.
“The management of the pandemic now cannot be the same as it was a year ago or a few months ago due to the vaccination status of the population and the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of this variant. Changes are taking place in the international context” , pointed out the deputy minister, who has predicted that in the future there will be important changes in the management of the pandemic.
Tomorrow, Wednesday, the Interterritorial Health Council meets, where the regional councilors and the Ministry of Health will have the opportunity to discuss how to deal with a sixth wave that has raised the incidence of covid transmission well above a thousand cases per 100,000 inhabitants , a maximum not reached in Spain throughout the pandemic.
Asked about this matter at the press conference after the Council of Ministers, the Government spokesperson, Isabel Rodríguez, has avoided confirming whether the quarantines will be shortened and has referred to the technicians and to tomorrow’s meeting of the Interterritorial Health Council.
As he has assured, “any decision” that the institutions adopt regarding the pandemic is made according to the “rigor of the technical teams.”
0 Comments:
Publicar un comentario