Spain’s Catalonia region allows one person at side of elderly or sick patient in final moments

THE Catalonia government is allowing one person to be with someone elderly or sick in the final moment of their life.

Regional Health minister Alba Verges also announced on Monday that family members will be permitted to have daily contact with coronavirus patients being treated in hospitals, pavillions and hotels.

The permission follows three weeks of lockdown, during which time many of the more than 2,900 people who have lost their lives to Covid-19 in Catalonia have died without their loved ones by their side.

The changes on the rules of confinement are part of a regional plan aimed at providing emotional and stress support to citizens.

Verges explained that a series of criteria have been set out so that people who are dying can be accompanied by a family member, something which up until now has not been allowed in hospitals or residencies.