After 1,207 days, the health emergency due to Covid-19 in Spain is over. José Manuel Miñones, Minister of Health, has announced the decision taken at the Council of Ministers today. “Three years later we put an end to the health crisis and all the extraordinary sanitary measures put in place will decline“.
Among them, the most anticipated stands out: masks will no longer be mandatory in health centers, social health centers and pharmaciesaccording to the approved agreement, which declares the end of the health crisis situation caused by the coronavirus.
Miñones has analyzed the epidemiological situation and has indicated that since November 2022 it shows “a decreasing trend” in terms of deaths and hospitalizations, less than 1%. He has highlighted that this, added to the fact that the virulence of the omicron variantthe high vaccination rate and the natural infection of the Spanish population, “this disease no longer constitutes a health crisis situation in Spain”, he insisted.
The agreement, which will enter into force once publish in the BOEstresses “the special vulnerability of health centers” and “the need to reinforce the use of the mask in certain contexts“: People who work in intensive care units and in units with vulnerable patients; hospital emergencies or primary care, including the waiting room; residential centers for the elderly and people with disabilities and symptomatic people when they are in shared spaces and professionals who attend.
In the case of residences for the elderly and people with disabilities, Miñones has urged to maintain the ‘extra’ precautions in the event of symptoms appearing in workersresidents or visitors, to avoid outbreaks and taking care of the well-being of the elderly, both physical and emotional”.