Date Published: 03/04/2020
ARCHIVED - Government warns of Zero tolerance against Covid positives breaching the lockdown
ARCHIVED ARTICLE The Spanish government delegate says that irresponsible Covid-positive individuals will be fined heavily
Spain is divided into 17 Autonomous Regions, or communities, each with its own regional government, and each region has a “Government Delegate” who represents the interests of the central government in each of the regions, controlling for example, the Guardia Civíl, which is run by the Spanish Government and not by the regional government.
The declaration of State of Emergency has centralised control of ALL of the police forces (Policia Local, Policia Nacional etc, as well as the police of the regional governments such as the Mossos d'Esquadra in Cataluña and all of the Armed Forces, under the control of the Interior Minister, and the government delegates in each of the regions has the responsibility for overseeing implementation of rulings from central government during this crisis period.
The Government Delegate to the Region of Murcia is José Vélez, formerly the Mayor of Calasparra, and he has issued specific orders to the Policía Nacional, Guardia Civil and the local police forces to "control and fine Covid-positive patients who breach the domestic quarantine regulations, fail to follow the instructions of medical professionals or do not respond to the calls of health professionals undertaking a phone monitoring service.”
"Failure to comply with any of these measures poses a serious risk to your own health and that of others, so in order to avoid a public health problem, the corresponding agents will verify by telephone follow-up or in person that they are being complied with,” he said following a videoconference meeting of the co-ordination centre which is charged with applying the criteria of the State of Emergency. "The collective sacrifice being made to fight this outbreak is enormous, and, therefore, we are going to show zero tolerance towards those who irresponsibly break the rules and compromise the health of all of us," he said.
Health workers are being instructed to communicate directly with the police should they become aware of any Covid-positive individuals either breaching the lockdown quarantine order or failing to answer the calls of the health professionals monitoring their progress.
Today it has been reported that the central government is making preparations to debate an extension of the State of Emergency until 26th April next week.
yesterday
Image: Mazarrón police carrying out controls.
Remember: LOCKDOWN MEANS LOCKDOWN. STAY AT HOME. STAY SAFE AND DO YOUR BIT TO REDUCE THE SPREAD OF CORONAVIRUS.
Follow Murcia Today on Facebook to keep up to date with all the latest updates locally for the Region of Murcia and the main information for the rest of Spain: https://www.facebook.com/MurciaToday/.
Our local area groups are as follows. These are designed to filter locally specific information and may be used by clubs, charities, any of the businesses who work with us to ensure information is available to residents in English and for those living in the specific areas. They are not buy and sell groups, do not accept any bickering or argumentative so and so's, are not "open for any old rubbish" pages, and are not trying to compete with your local comunity groups, they are specifically for sharing good, relevant local information and we hope you will use them for that during this difficult time.
Around Mazarrón news, events and local info: Click to join
Mazarrón, Fuente Álamo, Águilas, Lorca, Totana, Puerto Lumbreras, Camposol, Alhama de Murcia. Click to join (all within a half hour drive of each other)
Mar Menor news, events and local info. Click to join (this includes all the Mar Menor municipalities and Cartagena)
North-west Murcia: Bullas, Mula, Cehegin, Caravaca, Cieza, Calasparra, Jumilla, Moratalla info. Click to join
What to do if you are in the Region of Murcia and believe you may have contracted the virus
The regional government has set up a special helpline to supply information to members of the public (900 121212) if they suspect that they may have contracted the virus rather than going straight to hospital or to a medical centre.
Sensible precautions
The advice being issued to members of the public by medical authorities all over the world coincides on the following points:
- Wash hands frequently with either soap and water or a sanitiser gel
- Catch coughs and sneezes with disposable tissues – and throw the tissues away immediately after use before immediately washing your hands!
- If you don’t have a tissue, use your sleeve – and wash the item of clothing used at the next opportunity
- AVOID touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands
- AVOID close contact with people who are unwell
- Don´t panic!