Spanish Government Considers the Possibility of Returning to Phase 2 Mobility Restrictions

The government is seriously considering proposing a return to Phase 2 of a restriction of movement in order to stop the spread of the virus across Spain.

THE worsening of the coronavirus pandemic in Spain has prompted Pedro Sánchez to consider the possibility of implementing mobility restrictions in the autonomous communities, similar to those of Phase 2, but without having to decree a State of Alarm, say sources from various regional governments.

If there is no noticeable change in the current trend of the data – which this Friday amounted to more than 3,600 infections in a single day – Spain could take steps back in its ‘new normal’ and return, according to the same sources, to “similar situations to those of Phase 2,” although mobility limitations would be limited to the community and not on a provincial level.

These alternatives, with more flexible measures, could be presented by the Minister of Health, Salvador Illa, at the next Interterritorial Health meeting, on Thursday, August 27. This could also affect the start of the school year, which would be delayed depending on how the coronavirus situation evolves after the new restrictions from all of the communities are imposed.

“Our option is that within the competencies of the autonomous communities there can be excellent coordination and prevention always based on scientific criteria. That is what is being done,” he said. This week, Illa asked the communities that the new restrictions be applied “with the utmost rigour” to control the advance of the coronavirus.

According to the latest available report from the Ministry of Health, from Friday, 4.4 per cent of the beds available in Spanish hospitals are already occupied by Covid patients, totalling 4,703. Of these, 1,297 patients are in Madrid, which also has 137 admitted to the ICU.

Aragon is the community with the highest percentage of beds occupied with Covid patients, 13.6 per cent, followed by Madrid (9.8 per cent) and the Basque Country (9.1 per cent).

Hospital admissions throughout Spain now exceed discharges: 765 have been hospitalised in the last day compared to 658 who were discharged.

The warning from Fernando Simón in his last TV appearance was clear: “Let no one be confused, things are not going well. It is time to stop. The fact that we detect a lot does not mean that there is no transmission, and every day we have more.”

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Tony Winterburn

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