Madrid tightens restrictions and reduces Christmas gatherings to 6 people

The community already registers the second highest incidence in the State

Núria Rius Montaner
2 min
El conseller de salut de la Comunitat de Madrid, Enrique Ruiz Escudero, en roda de premsa aquest divendres.

Madrid"The figures show a slight increase in cases and we have to act as quickly as possible". The Minister of Health of the Community of Madrid, Enrique Ruiz Escudero, announced that measures must be taken during the Christmas holidays. In particular, the community has decided to reduce family gatherings to a maximum of six people on the following days: 24, 25 and 31 December, and 1 January, instead of a maximum of ten people, as approved in Catalonia. "We are aware of what this decision entails, but we have to think about what is more important to avoid contagion", he said in a press conference on Friday.

The Madrid government has accepted that in recent weeks new outbreaks have been detected associated with social and family gatherings. Whilst Escudero asked citizens to keep calm, he acknowledged that measures had to be tightened up. Specifically, the community has recorded an 18% increase in coronavirus infections in the last week, as reported by the Ministry of Health.

The region maintains curfew as it has done up to now, that is, between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m., except on 24, 25, 31 December, and 1 January, when it will be extended to 1:30 am. In addition, it will maintain its perimetral lockdown - as decided by the inter-territorial council - from 23 December until 6 January, except for those who travel to see relatives or people close to them. "We have to keep worrying and we can't rest", Escudero stated, who has warned that depending on how the epidemiological situation evolves the community will consider taking further action. In addition, new mobility restrictions will be applied in five basic health areas that exceed 400 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

However, these measures affect only social interaction. The community maintains the hospitality sector as it has done up to now, unlike Catalonia. "We will continue with the measures as they are now. We are not considering ruining shops, nor closing the hospitality industr, nor increasingly affecting the economy", President Isabel Diaz Ayuso stated at the Regional Assembly.

The incidence is growing

The measures announced by the Community come at a time when Madrid is once again within the "red light" defined by the Ministry of Health, and therefore the region is placed at risk. The trend had been worrying the Spanish government for days, and the Health Minister himself, Salvador Illa, acknowledged on Friday that he had met with the President of the region to convey his "concern".

A month ago, Madrid had some of the best data in Spain and now leads the way with 266 cases per 100,000 inhabitants and reports 1,640 cases in 24 hours, according to official data from the Health Ministry. It has the highest incidence after the Balearic Islands (322), and has been increasing - in fact, has doubled - during the last two weeks.

Doctors from different hospitals in the region - who have been recording developments in hospitals since the beginning of the pandemic - wondered on 11 December whether there was a "change of trend". On that day, the group recorded that in 18 hospitals, both patient admissions for coronavirus and deaths were increasing: 13 in one day, according to data published on their Twitter account.

The latest data they have provided is from 15 December and shows that the upward trend is confirmed. An additional 110 people were admitted, seven people were in serious condition and the number of deaths in one day was 19. Because of this scenario the government has decided to tighten up measures to curb social interactions in the face of the contagion spread.

stats