Spain is heading towards the third wave of the pandemic, although Andalusia seems to still be on a plateau around a relatively low incidence. The latest data for 2020, which will not be updated until this noon, left a rate of 140.6 cases per 100 inhabitants in the community in the last 14 days. This situation of “stability” arrived on December 12 after the peak reached on November 9, with 573.3 accumulated cases. Placing yourself on that plateau was only possible after a month with non-essential activity closed from 6:00 p.m. – with the exception of Granada, where the closure was total – but the situation changed just that December 12 in an attempt of the Board for “opening the faucet” of the economy after controlling a second wave that seemed runaway.
Since the measures for Christmas came into force, on the aforementioned December 12, the incidence in the community has oscillated between 133 and 149 accumulated cases per 100,000 inhabitants, although it is true that the part of the Ministry of Health and Families of the last The day of 2020 left the day with the highest number of positives in December, with more than 1,700. In the positive data section, I highlight the decrease in hospitalized patients, below 1,000 again after several days exceeding a thousand. There were 976 admitted with Covid-19, 210 of them in the ICU.
In an interview granted to Europa Press, the Vice President of the Board, Juan Marin, assured that the intention of the Andalusian Government is to maintain the current restrictions, which allow greater openings to sectors such as commerce and hospitality, as well as travel between provinces. The current regulations have a horizon of January 10, although before that, on the 4th, the public health and epidemiology technicians of the Ministry of Health and Families will review the situation.
Marin is confident that, after these analyses, it will not be necessary to tighten the limitations, which will mean that the Christmas meetings that have taken place in recent days. The vice president and also Minister of Tourism acknowledges that the rules that apply from the 10th will depend on the health evolution, but it is also true that on that day the effects of New Year’s Eve dinners and much less of the meetings that occur on the occasion of Three Kings Day.
“Although the evolution is being positive, we cannot lower our guard at any time,” Marin insists in the interview, in which he is pleased that compliance with the restrictions in November has allowed Christmas to be celebrated with ” a little more tranquility” and people can go out and visit relatives. The vice president of the Board asked for understanding from sectors such as the hotel industry for the measures adopted and warned that if the restrictions are tightened it is to “save people’s lives.
“Given that, if we have to make a decision as of January 10, then it would be done, but at this time it is not necessary because the evolution continues to be positive,” said the vice president, who has trusted that all citizens continue complying with security measures and with the rules to avoid an increase in infections. For Marin, the current situation of the pandemic in the community shows that the Board has taken the “appropriate, at the right time” measures, advised by experts. In this sense, he has rejected the criticism of “chaos and improvisation” that from the opposition parties, such as PSOE, Vox and Adelante Andalucia have been launched against the regional Executive.
