The Generalitat wants to limit mobility between towns from Friday at six in the morning until the same time on Monday. It also maintains the closure of bars, will close shopping centers and suspend sports and cultural activities.
The Catalan Government has approved this Thursday a new package of measures to try to bend the contagion curve which continues to skyrocket with 5761 new infections reported and a cumulative incidence of 654 cases per 100000 inhabitants
The great novelty is a perimeter confinement of Catalonia with the intention of making it stricter in each municipalityduring the weekends Also for 15 days the Government has decided to maintain the closure of the restoration close shopping centers reduce capacity of other commercial premises and suspend all extracurricular cultural and sports activities such as gyms
The experts of the Generalitat have been all morning analyzing how these measures fit with the decree of state of alarm that is approved this Thursday in the Congress and that establishes that the restrictions have to last a minimum of seven days
The Catalan Executive has announced 300 million euros to the economic sectors affected by the restrictions perimeter closure of each municipality during the weekend that is the prohibition to move beyond the limits of each population will take effect tomorrow Friday at six in the morning until the same time on Monday
The state of alarm confers on the Generalitat the powers to put it into operation without the need for the approval of justice There will be a series of exceptions for emergencies but the Government seeks with this measure to further control social interaction and mobility to reduce the epidemic curve
Between October 19 and 25 the last week for which figures are available the Generalitat reported 30407 new covid19 infections in the community more than double those reported two weeks ago
Catalonia as Navarra La Rioja or Aragón have already done will also make a perimeter closure of the entire autonomous community The measure like the closure of each municipality will be valid for 15 days Subsequently the effects will be evaluated and it will be decided whether to continue or even if it is increased
The Government believes that the closure of restaurants and bars has timidly slowed down the spread of infections but not enough hence the approval of a new package of measures
The speed of transmission of the virus the Rt which measures how many people it infects on average a positive one came to be above 15 and is now 134 a symptom of the slowdown in transmission but still insufficient to keep the epidemic under control experts recommend that this indicator be below 1
For this reason the Department of Health has always opted to maintain the closure of the restoration beyond the 15 days stipulated in the beginning a decision that predictably will be confirmed this Thursday by the Procicat the Government body in charge of coordinating the response to the pandemic
The work and educational environment will be maintained both with the recommendation that distance activities be encouraged.
The Government wants to maintain presence in compulsory education until the last possible moment although it remains to be defined whether post compulsory education Baccalaureate and FP will also be virtual as is already the case with university.
Staples stores will not close although the rest of the activities sports culture extracurricular activities will be forced to close their doors at least 15 days There will be some restrictions on nonessential trade yet to be specified.
The previous order of the Government will also be adjusted so that food services can be delivered at home until eleven at night.
