Two clients access a leisure venue in Pérez Casas, in Murcia, with the Covid certificate. /
The autonomous Executive will have to decide today whether to extend the use of the certificate beyond Friday, when the judicial guarantee expires
Asturias and Catalonia have joined Castilla y León, Castilla-La Mancha, Madrid and Extremadura in recent days and will no longer require the Covid certificate to access hotels or nightlife. But the Region of Murcia and ten other autonomies maintain its use, although with differences. While in the Valencian Community the certificate is mandatory to enter bars, restaurants and pubs, in the Region its use is voluntary: if the employer wants to occupy 75% of the capacity of the premises, he must request the document. If not, you will have to take advantage of the maximum occupancy that is allowed based on the level of risk of the municipality.
The judicial endorsement of the Covid passport in the hotel and nightlife industry expires in the Region of Murcia this Friday, the 4th, so the regional Executive must decide today, at the weekly meeting of the Covid monitoring committee, if it requests a new one from the TSJ. extension, as the Valencian Community and the Basque Country have done, or renounce maintaining this measure, following in the wake of Asturias and Catalonia. Citizens yesterday requested the elimination of restrictions in the Region, including the requirement of the Covid certificate, considering that the measure “has not been effective”
The future of the passport is up in the air in Spain, but not in the European Union, which continues to assume it as a key tool to end the pandemic. Since mid-November, Spaniards have become familiar with the Covid pass, the document that reflects that a person has been vaccinated, has had the disease or has a negative test. In most communities it has been the key to access restaurants, gyms or even hospitals. Its implementation sought two purposes: to put pressure on anti-vaccines, at the risk of being isolated from social life, and to reduce the transmission of the virus in environments where personal protection measures are usually relaxed. The results have been uneven.
The measure has fulfilled the objective of increasing vaccination, but it has not prevented the explosion of Omicron infections
More than half a million doses
The first objective was fulfilled. From November 16 to December 26, 523,000 deniers or reluctant to get vaccinated did so, although the numbers were rather symbolic: 92% of Spaniards had received a dose by the end of December (38,732,476 on the 27th). , compared to 90.7% in mid-November (38,209,702 on 16). In the Region of Murcia, more than 22,000 first doses were administered in this period.
«The Covid passport has had some influence in determining that some of the people who had not been vaccinated have done so, but there are still three million who do not want to be vaccinated (over 12 years old and especially 29-59) and I do not think that is going to have more impact”, points out the expert in Public Health José Martínez Olmos. “It is clear that there has been an increase in vaccination coverage,” highlights Fernando Moraga-Llop, vice president of the Spanish Association of Vaccinology. Meanwhile, in the rest of Europe, with a powerful denial movement, the dilemma between getting vaccinated or not seeing friends and family did raise, notably, the rate of punctures.
But, as the data shows, it has not been possible to reduce infections. “With Delta, the Covid passport did work because the vaccines were effective in reducing infections, but with Ómicron that does not happen,” argues Moraga-Llop. And even so, the Covid passport is still valid in eleven autonomies. “I don’t see any problem in asking, it doesn’t hurt, and people who go to an establishment can feel safer,” says this expert, who uses an analogy: “When I pay in a store with a credit card, I want ask me for my ID. Well, it’s the same here.”
“Add little”
However, Martínez Olmos shows more doubts: «Since from the point of view of Public Health the certificate adds little to the control of the spread of the virus, in this context I think it is difficult for the Superior Courts of Justice to support the continuity of the measure, although in the judicial field it is difficult to predict.
But while Spain debates the covid passport, the EU is very clear: only those who possess it will be able to travel without restrictions through the 27, with the obligation, in addition, that it be updated. The vaccination document will be valid for nine months after it is issued, unless the person receives a booster dose, in which case it will be extended indefinitely. The validity of the recovery certificate (having passed the disease) will be 180 days. Regarding the diagnostic tests, the PCR will be accepted with a maximum period of 72 hours before the trip, but the antigen test only with 24 hours.
Three deaths and 2,236 new positives in the Region
Health reported yesterday 2,236 coronavirus positives corresponding to Saturday in the Region of Murcia. The figure, although still high, improves on that registered on the same day last week, when 2,803 new infections were reported (567 fewer).
In this way, the accumulated incidence continues its decline and stands at 4,173 cases per 100,000 inhabitants fourteen days later, 1,100 points less than a week ago. That’s a 21% decline.
Of the 2,236 cases reported yesterday, 487 correspond to Cartagena, 370 to Murcia, 266 to Lorca, 176 to Yecla, 84 to Águilas, 74 to Totana, 65 to Caravaca de la Cruz, 65 to Mazarrón, 63 to La Unión, 58 to Cehegín, 53 to Molina de Segura, 49 to Alcantarilla, 40 to Jumilla, 40 to Puerto Lumbreras, 36 to Bullas, 30 to Calasparra, 28 to Alhama de Murcia, 28 to Cieza and 25 to Fuente Álamo. The rest are spread over various municipalities.
Health reported three other deaths from Covid. They are two men and one woman between 61 and 78 years of age from the Murcia Oeste, Vega Media del Segura and Murcia Este health areas. In total there are already 1,966 people who have died from coronavirus in the Region of Murcia since the start of the pandemic.