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ARCHIVED - Communities in Spain reject new Covid traffic light system
With the more pressing matter of Covid passports throughout Spain, the new system wasn't even voted on
In a meeting on Tuesday November 16 between the Ministry of the Health and representatives from the individual autonomous communities, the proposal to amend the traffic light system for Covid risk levels was largely met with disdain and was so far down the list of priorities that the decree wasn’t even voted on.
Carolina Darias had previously suggested that the parameters of the various alert levels be increased so that, for example, a region would be considered to be high risk when the reach 300 cases per 100,000 inhabitants rather than the current 150. Her reasoning was that this would allow Spain to avoid further states of alarm, but with communities arguing that they already have the freedom to impose measures such as closing sectors and reducing capacity, the matter was shelved.
Instead, the autonomies called on the Minister to give them “national support” that allows them to implement a Covid passport system without fear that the decision will later be revoked by the Superior Court of Justice. The regional leaders called for a decision on the passport to be made at a national level to avoid the experience of last summer, where the courts prohibited their use in some communities while allowing them in others.
With the current high vaccination coverage in Spain, several of the community leaders argued that it is no longer a matter of applying “classic” and general restrictions for the entire populations, but of establishing mechanisms to be able to “live” with the virus by ensuring that only vaccinated people can access certain public spaces. Hours before the meeting, the Minister of Health of Madrid went so far as to say that “it makes no sense” to approve the new traffic light system while the Covid passport question remains unresolved.
This is by no means the first time Ms Darias has been confronted with the idea of extending the use of the Covid passport, with Murcia submitting weekly requests and the president of Valencia, Ximo Puig, announcing this week that he plans to implement the system in hospitality and leisure venues. So far, however, the minister has refused to take a firm stance on a “legal framework” for the Covid passport.
At the end of the meeting, the Ministry of Health reported that they will continue to work on the traffic light system with the various communities and that the matter may be revisited at a later date.
Image: Archive
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