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article_detail
Date Published: 08/07/2020
ARCHIVED - Catalonia imposes new order; Face masks will be obligatory at all times
Everyone must wear a mask at all times, regardless of social distance
The President of the Generalitat, Quim Torra, has announced on Wednesday morning that the mandatory use of face masks in Catalonia(Cataluña; Catalunya) at all times will be approved by the regional Government (Generalitat) this afternoon and take effect from midnight.
Earlier in the week spokesperson Meritxell Budó said that the measure will be applied in "both public and private" spaces, even when the safety distance of 1.5 meters can be guaranteed. "Regardless of safety distances, people will have to wear a mask at all times," she stated.
This measure has been implemented due to the risk of the virus spreading further after the Segrià comarca (Lleida) with 209,000 population, was confined on Saturday.
On Tuesday the area reported 74 new cases of Covid-19 in just 24 hours, and since the outbreak of the pandemic, 2,615 cases have been recorded in this same area, 853 in the last two weeks and 568 in the last seven days.
The Generalitat is facing severe criticism over its handling of the outbreak; the alarm was first sounded weeks ago, coinciding with the San Juan fiestas, when the Generalitat ruled out confining the region for the first time and neighbouring Huesca was in the midst of an outbreak due to cases in the agricultural sector, workers transiting regularly between the two areas.
On Friday morning the Health Minister, Alba Vergés, gave an interview to Rac 1 radio in which she denied considering raising the area due to the increase in new coronavirus infections:
Hours later on Saturday, President Quim Torra himself announced the confinement of the region after waiting until after midnight to send out notices to the media calling a press conference to ensure no hint of the impending lockdown went out in the morning papers. The Generalitat later admitted that its concern had been to prevent a starburst of residents to the coastal regions, spreading the virus further in peak tourist season and had waited to “see the data” before finally making a decision.
It is also worth noting that the Generalitat took the decision to withdraw Catalonia from the state of emergency on June 18th, a week before the remainder of the country, and immediately allowed full freedom of movement throughout its provinces, ignoring the advice of the national Government not to do so.
Whether trust has now been lost and tourism bookings for the Catalan coast will decline as a result of the outbreaks remains to be seen; certainly the imposition of masks at all times may be a dampener for potential holidaymakers.
The incidence of cases in the Segrià region is now 20 times higher than the average for Catalonia and there are 14 active outbreaks.
Health service faces risk of collapse
A notable increase in the number of infections across the next few days is expected due to the natural transmission process of the virus: the main problem is that the contagion chains have jumped from the agri-food companies to the domestic environment, putting the immediate contacts of every contagious case at risk. It is also presumed that there are asymptomatic undetected cases amongst the contagious that can transmit the virus, and in the imtimacy of a family home, this is the point at which the virus can spread most rapidly.
"There is community contagion and it is difficult to control," admitted the head of the epidemiology service of Lérida, Alt Pirineu and Arán, Pere Godoy. Therefore, the health service believes that the figure could increase by thousands of infections within the next 7-14 days.
The Arnau Hospital of Vilanova de Lleida is already under severe strain after taking in 44 patients yesterday and with six patients in intensive care.
A second floor with 30 beds has been opened to cope with the anticipated Covid-19 influx and the Generalitat has put out an appeal for Catalan health personnel to come to the area.
CatSalut is also likely to move critical patients both with coronaviruses and other illnesses from the
Arnau de Vilanova to hospitals in other cities, to cope with the expected increase in cases within the next two to three weeks.
It is being reported that the region is struggling to cope with the track and trace element of controlling the outbreaks as there is currently no one in charge of the Public Health Agency, which has epidemiological surveillance powers, as its former secretary, Joan Guix, resigned on May 28th. It is also unknown who is in charge of the telephonic follow-up of the contacts, as the contract awarded to Ferrovial expired on June 8th.
Seasonal workers
10 out of the 14 outbreaks are in companies dedicated to fruit and vegetable picking and processing, and this sector is renowned for the poor living and working conditions of the mobile workforce.
Outbreaks in several areas of Spain (and France) have been associated with this sector and its highly mobile workforce; the Government has already prepared several spaces in municipal pavilions and other facilities to better control and monitor this sector, but with cases in this outbreak expected to increase significantly in the coming fortnight, a more comprehensive strategy may be required at this moment in time.
The Generalitat is also still considering the possibility of a stricter confinement within the affected area; at the moment residents are confined geographically, not locked down domestically.
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