ARCHIVED - Spain says adios to masks on public transport on Feb 7
From next month, masks will no longer have to be worn on buses, planes or trains in Spain
Three years after the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, masks have remained one of the last vestiges of the health crisis. In Spain, this safety measure is still mandatory on buses, trains, in taxis and even on flights, and masks must be worn in health centres and pharmacies.
Now, less than 24 hours after Ministry of Health official Fernando Simón confirmed that masks would be scrapped "next week or the week after," the Spanish government has announced that it will indeed pass a law to remove the need for masks on public transport on Tuesday February 7.
It’s understood that the measure will come into effect the following day, on Wednesday February 8, once it’s published in the Official State Gazette.
The decision has the support of the experts since the incidence of Covid remains stable. In fact, it has continued to decrease even after the Christmas and New Year celebrations, and the opening up of the Chinese borders.
Speaking about the matter on Wednesday January 25, the director of the Health Alerts and Coordination Center of the Ministry of Health (CCAES), Fernando Simón, said:
"I don't know if it will be next week or the following," adding that the decision isn’t "solely" his but rather depends on consensus from the pandemic experts, the Ministry of Health itself and the leaders of the autonomous communities.
"The proposals are already on the table, so it will be soon," stressed the director, who admitted that the Covid outbreaks in China have "complicated" the decision a bit. Likewise, he insisted that "the population now has to be much more responsible."
Although the government has celebrated this latest move towards "recovering normality", officials still encourage vulnerable groups and those with underlying health conditions to wear masks in crowded places, and have also asked anyone showing coronavirus symptoms to do the same.
While masks will no longer be compulsory on public transport from next month, they will remain mandatory in all healthcare facilities and pharmacies for the time being.
And he added: "Now it depends on each one of us, when we have symptoms, to use it responsibly. Also if we are vulnerable people. And understand that our health also affects others."
The Spanish government has now extended the fourth booster jab to all adults under the age of 60, and has given the green light to inoculating children aged between 6 months and 5 years against coronavirus.
In other news: One dead and several injured in Cadiz church terror attack
Image: Archive
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