Date Published: 12/02/2021
ARCHIVED - WHO warns Spain about the danger of relaxing Covid restrictions too soon
ARCHIVED ARTICLE ![<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - WHO warns Spain about the danger of relaxing Covid restrictions too soon](https://murciatoday.com/images/articles/21/02/1559604__11613134171_large.jpg)
The Spanish Ministry of Health is also urging caution
As Spanish regions begin to consider reopening bars and restaurants and relaxing restrictions due to drops in incidence rates, the World Health Organisation and the Spanish Ministry of Health call for caution
As official figures on incidence rates begin to fall, the authorities fear that a rush to ease restrictions could cause further waves of infection as transmission rates are still very high in Spain. The accumulated incidence rate in Spain as a whole is currently at 540 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, a far cry from the set target of 50 cases per 100,000 inhabitants required to bring the transmission under control.
Spanish Health Minister Carolina Darias has expressed her concern over what could happen if restrictions are lifted too quickly, as has WHO’s senior emergency officer Catherine Smallwood, who referred specifically to the country during an update on the COVID-19 situation in Europe, saying: “A relative decrease does not mean that transmission rates are low. In Spain we’ve seen a very significant relative decrease, but transmission rates remain very, very high, and the more the virus is among us, the quicker it’s going to be a step ahead of us. In that sense, we really do need to be careful.”
Various regions are preparing to soften their measures due to the falling accumulated incidence rates and lower number of new cases, such as Castilla La-Mancha, where bars are to be allowed to open until 9 pm; Extremadura, where perimeter closures may also be lifted; and Madrid, which intends to shorten the curfew. Others, such as Castilla y León and Valencia, do not intend to relax measures for the time being.
Meanwhile the debate on whether or not bars and restaurants should be allowed to reopen continues.
The head of the Health Alerts and Emergency Coordination Centre, Fernando Simón, declared during a press conference on Thursday (11 February) that in areas where the inside of bars has been closed, the transmission rates have registered 8 and 9 per cent drops, whereas in areas where they remained open only 5 per cent drops were registered. Simón provided the figures in response to questions about a Basque Country judge’s ruling that bars should be allowed to open as “they do not cause a health risk” (an assertion which has provoked outrage amongst some medical professionals and condemnation from some regional governments, although has been welcomed by the hostelry sector). Simón was quick to state that in his opinion the catering industry presents a high risk for transmission of the virus, “not because the bars and restaurants do anything wrong, but simply because of their customers’ attitudes and behaviour.”
Simón also reiterated that a hard lockdown would make no sense now at current transmission levels, but admitted that it could have been a good idea a week or two ago.
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