The director of the Centre for the Coordination of Health Alerts and Emergencies (CCAES), Fernando Simón, has announced that it is "very likely" that "in a few days" the use of masks outdoors can be relaxed, due to the good progress of the vaccination campaign and the epidemiological situation of the country.
"It is true that the possibility of reducing certain health measures outdoors, such as the use of masks, is very possible in a few days time, but first we have to guarantee that the risks are decreasing", he said in a press conference.
Although he avoided giving a specific date, Simón pointed out that the good evolution of the vaccination campaign and the drop in the contagion curve mean that the relaxation of measures could not be too far away.
“It is not good to give dates, it is good to give epidemiological situations. We can foresee, with the data we have, when it is possible that this situation will occur. We are evolving very well, with very good vaccination coverage. In a month we will be in immunization figures that put us in a very favourable situation to reduce measures, as long as others are maintained. We have to be aware that we have to go step by step", he detailed.
However, he also pointed out that it is not yet the time: "We still do not have the incidence, nor the vaccination coverage, nor sufficiently high community immunity to relax personal protection measures."
Simón insisted on the need to get it right, whenever that is. “We have to be prudent, be careful not to put the cart in front of the horse, or run before we can walk."
In his opinion, the moment in which all regions of Spain have an incidence rate below 150 cases per 100,000 inhabitants over 14 days, could be the appropriate time to consider this relaxation.
In this sense, he has predicted that "it is possible that some of the measures can be applied to the entire territory", such as the relaxation of masks in public outdoors as long as distancing is possible.
"Yes, it is true that, as we increase immunization, the situation in the entire country is homogenizing, but there are still important differences when making decisions," he said.
