Public Health Secretary warns: restrictions that affect all Catalonia "will have to be considered"

Barcelona"We'll have to start thinking about measures for the whole territory." This is the warning issued before Christmas by the Secretary of Public Health, Dr. Josep Maria Argimon, in the face of coronavirus indicators "that are bad". Argimon has justified the closure of the Cerdanya and Ripollès because they have "a lot of incidence" of the virus, but added that the same cannot be done in other regions because Catalonia would be "patched". For this reason, the doctor has said that the country "is in a complicated situation" in which it will be necessary to consider restrictions that will affect the whole territory. These changes could come next Monday, December 28, when the measures planned for this Christmas will be reviewed.

Argimon has predicted that next week the incidence of the coronavirus "will be very similar", although he has warned that one has to think beyond that, until after January 6. "I would not know how to answer how we will be on January 8th. I can imagine it, but this is not the time to venture", the doctor said, who wanted to differentiate the current situation from the summer one, when only the Segrià region in Lleida had to be in lockdown. "We have more than 2,000 new cases a day. It is a very high number that can break the balance from the point of view of care for people who will be admitted to hospitals and ICUs", Argimon warned. The Minister for Health, Alba Vergés, stressed: "We cannot lower our guard. What we do now will determine the harshness of January".

In this call to reduce interaction, the Minister for Home Affairs, Miquel Sàmper, has strongly recommended Christmas meals to take place "with as few people as possible". Sàmper has argued that if meetings of 10 people are allowed "it does not mean" that this limit has to be reached. "After lunch, instead of relaxing we should go outside, take a walk and leave the windows open", the Minister recommended. In fact, the deputy director of Civil Defense, Sergio Delgado, has recommended to "ventilate well" interior spaces and keep windows open during visits, as well as to avoid coinciding in small spaces, for example the kitchen, where one has to wear a mask. Delgado also said that a meter of distance is needed at the table between people who do not live together.

As for the closure of the Cerdanya and Ripollès regions, Sàmper has assured that compliance is "exemplary" because only one complaint has been made. "The transit recorded is for crossing the regions or for the exceptions", he explained.