The president of the Canary Islands, Ángel Víctor Torres, has announced this afternoon (Monday) that the approval of the decree law that will shield the measures to face the covid-19 pandemic will be on Thursday, after the blows from the Superior Court of Justice (TJSC) to several regulations used previously such as the COVID certificate to access hospitality venues, the perimeter closure of the islands at extreme risk, and curfew, after it has been extensively studied today in the Extraordinary Governing Council meeting.
“It is an important, voluminous document, that it has more than 75 pages, 28 articles and different provisions. The aim is that it is approved in the next council on Thursday afternoon. We want to bring together all the work carried out by the Government of the Canary Islands during this year at the peak of the pandemic. It will go to the Parliament of the Canary Islands and it will be processed as a bill, which will be modulated by the different government councils, and will then arbitrate the different measures on each island," Torres explained.
The regulations will maintain the Covid alert level system, although they are expected to be reformed, but rejects the idea of a curfew based on fundamental rights.
The decree-law, except for any unforeseen events, will be approved on Thursday, and Torres said "It is for the greater security of our citizens and it does not go against anybody’s rights."
Once the Decree-Law enters into force, following its passage and approval in the Canary Islands Parliament, all the current measures will finish, and the ones written into this new decree-law for health will come into play, including all the measures approved in recent months to stop the advance of the pandemic. “The Canary Islands has reached 70% of immunized people based on the total population today. The objective has been achieved, 77% of the target population has been fully vaccinated, and 40% of the population between 12 and 19 years of age is immunized. The Canary Islands is the region that has more people vaccinated in this age group," he explained.
Torres said that they have worked with the Government of Spain in the elaboration of this decree-law, and with the governments of Aragon or the Basque Country that have a legal document similar to the one that the Canary Islands expect to approve on Thursday. "We have made decisions almost every week, sometimes creating some confusion, for which I apologize for, but always with the aim of preserving life and health," he stressed.
Finally, Torres warned that the pandemic is not over yet, with the start of the school year just around the corner, he stressed that we must continue to comply with sanitary measures. “The ideal would have been for all the regions to have the same parameters, but this has not been the case. I believe that a unified criterion is important that I believe will help to have a more clarifying situation for citizens,“ he stressed. "This battle is not over yet," he declared.
