Darias will take the end of masks on public transport to the Council of Ministers on February 7th

Speaking to the media at the presentation of the Gasol Foundation’s ‘PASOS 2022’ study, at the Celestino Mutis Secondary School in Madrid, the Minister of Health has indicated that, before that, an Interterritorial Council for the National Health System will be held. The mask ceased to be mandatory indoors on April 20th, 2022, although it has continued to be used in health centers, pharmacies and also in the public transportation. However, the Health Minister clarified that it will still be necessary to wear the mask in health centers.

The recommendation to keep masks on public transport was influenced by winter and the greater number of cases of acute respiratory infections and also by the impact that the outbreak of infections in China could have following the opening of their borders and the abandonment of the Zero-COVID strategy.

Restoring normality

First thing yesterday, the government spokeswoman, Isabel Rodriguez, had already confirmed that the Executive is studying the impact of measures to control access of travelers from China to finalize the decision to withdraw the mandatory wearing of masks on public transport. In an interview with CMMedia picked up by Europa Press, she stressed that the Government and society have already taken “several steps” to “restore normality”.

However, the warning committee “has been working during this time” monitoring the evolution after the new rules adopted in December in response to the spike in cases in the Asian country has pointed out Isabel Rodriguez . The “soon, soon, soon” of the end of the compulsory use of masks on public transport – the only thing that reminds us that the pandemic has not yet ended – that the Minister of Health, Carolina Darias, advanced a few days ago is getting closer and closer.

Thus, the spokeswoman for the Government, Isabel Rodriguez has indicated that monitoring has been carried out and masks will be withdrawn “immediately” after the impact of the last phase after opening the borders with China is analyzed.

Alert committee

This Thursday, the Alerts Committee -a body that reports to the Ministry of Health and is made up of experts from the ministry, autonomous communities and medical societies- is meeting, and this issue is not on the agenda. While communities such as Madrid are pressing for the measure to be adopted immediately, others such as Andalusia are asking for calm and, above all, that the measure, as indicated by the Minister of Health and Consumer Affairs, Catalina García, be adopted after an extraordinary and urgent meeting of the Alerts Committee, the Public Health Commission and the Interterritorial Council.

In Madrid, the regional government has been conveying “a position in favor of eliminating” the mask in subways and buses. In the same line, other autonomous communities such as Valencia, have taken the same line, although they emphasize that they will always comply with the decision taken by the Alerts Committee. At Catalonia, the former Minister of Health, Josep Maria Argimon, has already questioned the obligatory nature of the regulation several times.

On Wednesday, the director of the Center for the Coordination of Alerts and Health Emergencies of the Ministry of Health (CCAES), Fernando Simón, assured that the end of masks on public transport will come “soon” and in the “very short term”, meaning “next week or the week after”.

“The decision is not mine alone and the proposals come from the technicians, the experts and the autonomous communities“, said the head of health alerts to journalists in Zaragoza, where he was participating in a round table.

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