The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has proposed to the regional presidents the return of the mandatory use of masks outdoors as one of the measures to control the explosive increase in new cases of coronavirus. The measure would be approved this Thursday in an extraordinary Council of Ministers, according to government sources.
Sánchez has announced this measure at the Conference of Presidents that is being held this Wednesday telematically to address together with the regional leaders the situation of the Covid-19 pandemic of the sudden increase in cases in recent dates.
In this context, the head of the Executive has finally listened to the seven regional presidents who had proposed to the Government to resume the measure that made the use of masks mandatory outdoors.
It was on June 26 when the central government decided to end the mandatory use of masks outdoors if there were more than 1.5 meters of distance. However, Sánchez has decided to propose this obligation again as a measure that, in his opinion, can control the advance of the virus in Spain.
Reinforce vaccination with the military
Likewise, the head of the Executive has proposed reinforcing the vaccination devices with teams from the Armed Forces, as well as making available hospitals of the Military Health Network, according to government sources.
In this context, the president has proposed the intensification and acceleration of the vaccination process and has put on the table the following objectives: That 80% of the population between 60 and 69 years old is vaccinated with the third dose before the end of the year; that 80% between 50 and 59 years old is in the week of January 24 and that 80% between 40 and 49 years old have the booster dose in the first week of March.
In addition, 70% of children between 5 and 11 years old have the first pediatric dose in the week of February 7 and 70% have the second pediatric dose in the week of April 19.
Hire retired health personnel
Another of the measures that Sánchez has transferred to the regional presidents has been the hiring of retired and pre-retired health personnel and authorization for the hiring of professionals with a specialist degree obtained in non-member states of the European Union.
Moreover, sources from the meeting point out to Europa Press that Sánchez has informed the regional leaders that the extraordinary council of ministers this Friday will approve a "reinforcement of human resources", which will be articulated through the hiring of this retired health personnel.
The Government's idea, according to Sánchez, is to increase the number of available health professionals and improve their working conditions, reducing temporality below eight percent.
Covid test
Regarding the covid tests, Sánchez has informed the regional presidents that temporary authorizations will be issued to allow the sale in pharmacies of certain professional-use antigen tests so that they are available to the entire population.
He also recalled that people who have had direct contact with an infected person should not be quarantined if they are vaccinated with a complete schedule, and that, as of February 1, the Covid Certificate will have an expiration of nine months from the date of administration of the last dose.
Another of the points on which Sánchez's initial intervention has focused has been to propose periodic meetings of the Conference of Presidents while this sixth wave lasts.
