Date Published: 23/10/2020
ARCHIVED - The Valencia Region declares a curfew between midnight and six in the morning until December 9th
ARCHIVED ARTICLE
This will affect the Alicante, Valencia and Castellón provinces
Following the decision of the nationwide Interterritorial Council to reject the implementation of a nationwide curfew for all of Spain, the president of the Valencia region, Ximo Puig, has announced that a curfew will be implemented in the Valencian Community between midnight and 06:00 in the morning at least until December 9th to try to stop the advance of the pandemic .
Puig explained that the Valencian executive was in favour of "a unitary measure for the entire Spanish territory, but some autonomies have opposed this measure in the Interterritorial Council, which forces the Valencian Community to make its own decisions."
The Valencian president has explained that he has commissioned a legal report from the Generalitat Lawyers' Office and a resolution from the Ministry of Health with the conditions of the curfew. Both documents will be taken to the Superior Court of Justice of the Valencian Community (TSJCV) for legal validation. Once this support is produced, the measure will take effect.
Puig has made this announcement after informing both the social agents (employers and unions) and the spokespersons of the different groups of the Valencian Corts of the situation.
The measure has the support of the Valencian Business Confederation (CEV) and the unions CC OO and UGT, which they consider to be "logical" given the progressive advance of the pandemic. Their agreement, they say, is "total" and they request that it be applied "as soon as possible." They have indicated that the curfew will not affect night shift workers.
The president made the official announcement after the Interterritorial Council in which the Minister of Health, Salvador Illa, met with all the regional representatives, including the Valencian councillor for health, Ana Barceló.
With this curfew, the aim is to stop nightly gatherings between family and friends, both in private homes and on the street, one of the main causes of the outbreaks that have been taking place in recent weeks.
The Valencian Health department reported on Thursday that the Valencian Community has registered 1,060 cases confirmed by PCR test or through antigen tests, which put the total number of positives at 52,676 people. This is the second day in three days since the pandemic started that the barrier of 1,000 daily infections has been exceeded. The first time it was exceeded was this Tuesday, October 20th, clear evidence of an increase in the number of contagions in the region.
However, in terms of cumulative incidence, the Valencian Community continues to be the second in Spain with the lowest number of infections, 142.15 infections per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days.
The head of the Consell explained that in the last two weeks infections have grown by 45% in the Valencian Community and that in the month of October the numbers hospitalized have grown by 97% and in Intensive Care Units (ICU) by 65%, increasing occupancy percentages to 7.3% and 12.3% respectively.
"Although we are behind in terms of accumulated incidence, we are not doing well and therefore we have to take another step to try to get to Christmas in the best possible conditions," he said. Puig added that the curfew will be accompanied by other complementary measures that will be announced in the coming days.