Coronavirus Present situation and vaccination in Spain

This news item contains updated data on the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic, obtained from various official sources, especially from the Ministry of Health and the Autonomous Communities, as well as from various international media such as Johns Hopkins University, the WHO and the European Medicines Agency.

Council of Ministers approves the end of the mandatory use of face masks in Spain

The Council of Ministers has approved this Tuesday the Royal Decree by which, from tomorrow, April 20, the use of face masks will no longer be mandatory in general. The measure will come into force after its publication tomorrow in the Official State Gazette (BOE).

As explained in a press conference by the Minister of Health, Carolina Darias, the very high vaccination coverage against COVID-19 and the current epidemiological situation of our country, have made possible the relaxation of the current rule on the use of masks; one of the most symbolic elements in the fight against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic.

However, the use of masks will continue to be mandatory in certain contexts and its use is advised in different situations, especially related to people and environments of special vulnerability.

Thus, detailed Darias, it will continue to be mandatory in health centers, services and establishments, such as hospitals, health centers, transfusion centers or pharmacies, both for people working in them, as well as for visitors. The exception is that it will not be mandatory for people who are admitted when they stay in their rooms.

Likewise, the use of face masks will continue to be mandatory in healthcare centers, such as nursing homes, both for people working in them and for visitors. This is not the case for residents.

The use of face masks is also mandatory in air, rail and cable transport and in buses, as well as in public passenger transport. Also in the case of enclosed spaces of ships and boats in which it is not possible to maintain the distance of 1.5 meters, except in cabins, when they are shared.

Source: Ministry of Health

---

Masks will no longer be compulsory indoors from 20 April.

• The Council of Ministers on 19 April will address the end of the obligation to wear masks indoors, except in health and social healthcare centres and means of transport.
• The ordinary meeting of the Interterritorial Council of the National Health System (CISNS) took place today in Toledo and approved, with maximum consensus, all the issues raised.
• The CISNS approved the incorporation of 43 new hospitals into the CSURs for 12 pathologies, including paediatric glaucoma and paediatric kidney transplants.

Madrid, 6 April 2022 – The Minister of Health, Carolina Darias, has informed the Ordinary Plenary Session of the Interterritorial Council of the National Health System (CISNS) that she will take to the first Council of Ministers after Easter, on 19 April, a Royal Decree under which masks will cease to be mandatory indoors as of its publication in the Official State Gazette, on 20 April.

At a press conference held at the Palacio de Fuensalida, in Toledo, he indicated that masks will cease to be obligatory indoors in general, although they will continue to be worn in healthcare centres, both for workers and visitors, and for people admitted when they are sharing common areas outside their rooms, as well as in social and healthcare centres, for workers and visitors in shared areas, and in means of transport.

This decision is based on the report carried out by the experts of the Alerts Committee, which also advises the responsible use of masks indoors for vulnerable people and in other areas such as enclosed public spaces.

Source: Ministry of Health

---

COVID-19 vaccination report from the Ministry of Health

In the executive report on vaccination against COVID-19, published by the Ministry of Health on January 23, it is indicated that they have already received the booster dose:

• 92,6 % of persons over 70 years of age
• 92,4 % of people over 60 years of age
• 86,7 % of people over 50 years of age
• 79,2 % of people older than 40 years of age.

Andalucia is the autonomous community with the highest percentage of population vaccinated with the booster dose in all age groups. Andalusia is also the region that has made most progress in paediatric vaccination, with 92.2% of the population over the age of 12 having been fully vaccinated.

More information: Ministry of Health

---

Health removes quarantines of Covid close contacts

The Ministry of Health and the autonomous communities have decided to eliminate quarantines of close contacts for COVID-19, regardless of their vaccination status.

As confirmed by the Ministry, this measure will come into effect from Saturday 5 March. The Commission has recommended that during the 10 days following the last exposure, close contacts of confirmed cases should “take extreme precautions and reduce social interactions as much as possible by constantly wearing masks and maintaining adequate hand hygiene”.

More information: Periódico As

---

Andalusia begins to administer the fourth dose of the Covid vaccine to immunocompromised patients

The first to receive them will be those who are classified in group seven, i.e. people with one of the very high-risk conditions or pathologies.

The Andalusian Regional Minister for Health and Families, Jesús Aguirre, “has given instructions to begin inoculating the fourth dose of the vaccine” against Covid-19 to immunosuppressed patients. This was announced this Tuesday by the Minister of the Presidency, Public Administration and Interior and spokesman for the Andalusian Government, Elías Bendodo, at the press conference following the weekly meeting of the Governing Council.

“Andalusia will begin to inoculate the fourth dose to that sector of the population that received the third dose between five and six months ago,” he said. Subsequently, the Regional Ministry of Health and Families has indicated that the Andalusian Health Service (SAS) has already begun to vaccinate with the fourth dose of messenger RNA to people over 12 years of age belonging to group 7.

More information : ABCAndalucía

---

More information