Spanish judges approve curfew in Catalonia

A Spanish judge on Thursday authorized the establishment of a night curfew in most parts of Catalonia (northeastern) to prevent an explosion of COVID-19 cases.

Also read: Live | Recent developments on COVID-19

Catalonia’s Superior Court of Justice (TSJC) has authorized Catalan executives to “act on requests”, including closing discos and restricting private meetings to a maximum of 10 people.

An action affecting fundamental freedoms, the separatist-led autonomous government had to ask the courts for a green light to impose this curfew in all cities with a population of more than 10,000 from 1am to 6am. The incidence exceeded 250 cases per 100,000 residents in seven days, i.e., in practice, all of these cases at present.

These restrictions apply from Thursday night to Friday during the 15-day opening period in one of the most populous areas in Spain and one of the most touristy areas in Europe.

In the 17 autonomous regions of Spain, Catalonia is requesting the highest control measures and restrictions to deal with the outbreak of COVID-19 cases caused by the appearance of the new Omikran variant.

The court decision came on Thursday morning after the central government, which had set a new record of 60,041 cases in 24 hours, approved the decree on Thursday morning mandating wearing masks again outside the country.

Wearing a mask, which comes into effect on Friday and the executive wants to be “temporary” is not just for sports or people – or people surrounded by their home – in a natural place like “in the mountains” or at the beach “, Health Minister Carolina Darias explained at a press conference on Thursday.

The most definite move announced Wednesday after an extraordinary meeting between the Socialist Pedro Snchez government and presidents of 17 regions of the country is the return of the masked man in public. Health.

For his part, Isabel Diaz Ayuso, the traditional president of the Madrid region, said on Thursday that he would not consider further restrictions.

Activities in Spain, one of the world champions in vaccination, have multiplied, but like many other countries – thanks to the prevalence of the Omicron variant has faced new cases, which are highly contagious.

In 14 days, 784 cases were reported per 100,000 residents on Wednesday evening, four times more than on December 1.

This new wave – the 6th in Spain – is less severe than the previous one, however, with 15.7% of COVID patients occupying intensive care units, 30% by mid-January 2021, according to Health Ministry figures. .