The Spanish Government considers that the time has come to accelerate the end of indoor masks in the face of the drop in coronavirus infections. It will be progressive and agreed with the autonomous communities and epidemiology experts, but it will come sooner than later, as announced by the President of the Executive, Pedro Sánchez.
This was confirmed by the socialist leader before the Federal Committee of the PSOE meeting in an extraordinary way in Ferraz to address the situation arising from Russia's war against Ukraine. Sánchez expressed the “formidable” response of Spanish citizens to the Covid-19 pandemic, having reached “extraordinarily high” vaccination figures and one of the lowest cumulative incidences in all of Europe.
For this reason, given the reduction in transmission and severity that the disease currently entails, the autonomous communities and the Government have focused on oppressing the obligation to wear the mask.
in certain interior spaces, much in the reports of epidemiological experts who support this decision when it reaches an accumulated incidence of 5 cases per 100.000 inhabitants in the last fourteen days.
According to the latest data offered by the Ministry of Health, the national data is at 463 points, still at high risk of transmission of the virus, while in the Valencian Community it is 430 positives per hundred thousand inhabitants. Finally, we would still have to wait a few more weeks to know the evolution of infections with the celebration of Holy Week as a point of reference.
Next Thursday, March 10, a new meeting of the National Health System is scheduled to address a new Covid-19 surveillance system. For this meeting, the intention of the autonomous communities is to discuss this week a progressive de-escalation that includes removing the mask in the classrooms and subsequently extending it to other closed spaces for spring.
The barrier of fifty infections
Epidemiology experts agree in pointing to the mark of fifty cases per hundred thousand inhabitants as the right time to abolish the mandatory use of the face mask in the vast majority of closed spaces, although they defend that there should be exceptions and places where it should be maintained.
For the director of the Balmis Institute, Francisco Giménez, Spain will be able to plant the end of the mask indoors when the accumulated accumulation reaches this figure and when the cases limit to sporadic and localized outbreaks. Likewise, he defends that the evolution of Covid-19 will depend on the degree of vaccination, which in Spain exceeds ninety percent, but in a centenary of countries it will be found to be less than seventy percent and even in Africa it does not reach 10%.
Salvador Peiró, director of the Fisabio Health Services Research area, assures that the removal of indoor masks will be possible after one hundred cases of accumulated incidence, as long as hospitals do not hear as soon as they are admitted to the pits. However, he defends that it should not be removed in these hospitals, as well as in nursing homes and health centers.
For his part, the prestigious Valencian surgeon Pedro Cavadas predicted that this use of this protection element will be optional as of autumn 2022, while the researcher and virologist Margarita del Val defined the mask as "one of the aces up the sleeve that Spain has had”, but he hears that removing it “is a social necessity” or “you have to be prudent and be aware that it protects”.
Where the mask is no longer mandatory indoors
The Valencian Community withdrew the cranes of restrictions due to the coronavirus at the end of February due to the generalization and support of all epidemiological indicators, although the mandatory use of the mask indoors and outdoors remained in force when massive events take place, such as the case of the mascletà de las Fallas 2022.
However, there are different cases where the use of the face mask is not eligible, as stipulated by the Ministry of Health in its latest resolution published in the DOGV. In this regard, you will not be able to carry it to people who have an illness or respiratory difficulty that may be aggravated, with the relevant medical report.
Nor will it be mandatory in the event that, due to the very nature of the activities, the use of face masks is incompatible, in accordance with health indications. Nor will it be necessary in certain places of public use that are part of the place of residence of the groups such as institutions for the care of the elderly or with a variety of functions. It should be noted that this exception does not apply to external visitors or workers at the centers.
Ultimately, speakers who take part in public events in closed places will be able to remove their mask while speaking as long as they maintain a safe distance.
