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14TH - 20TH APRIL 2020 - EDITION 834
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Your Essential Weekly Read
Not quite back to normal yet The extended restrictions are lifted this week, but what does this mean? Can our lives return to normal yet? No – not quite. Despite fake news and misinformation circulating on social media, the lockdown is not yet over. The latest extension approved by Congress brings the lockdown until April 26th. The tighter restrictions, introduced two weeks ago in an effort to halt all nonessential activity, are lifted but by no means does this mean that members of the public can resume business as usual. Depending on where you live, the non-essential sectors are allowed to resume activity on either Monday or Tuesday of this week (in many towns, Monday is a bank holiday). Many employees can now return to work and if you are expected back to work this week, your employer will have communicated that with you. For the majority of the population, the original limitations as set out in the original State of Alarm decree issued on March 14th still stand. Persons working in healthcare, security forces, telecommunications, customs, the supply and distribution of food and basic necessities and in the supply of electricity and fuel can continue to work. Auxiliary services an also continue to operate, including industrial components, cleaning, surveillance and security, mechanical maintenance and breakdown services, the transportation of goods and persons necessary for the aforementioned activities as well as rubbish collection and water supply services. Public transport can also continue but is still subject to restrictive measures and a reduced timetable. From this week, additional masks will be
distributed to members of the workforce who use public transport. Essential court and justice services can also continue to operate where necessary. Bars and restaurants are not allowed to open to the public but some can provide home delivery of food. Discos, cultural and leisure facilities, sports facilities, amusement parks and auditoriums are not yet allowed to open. Festivals, parades and other such gatherings in public places, either out in the open or in enclosed venues are not yet allowed to take place. Food shops, pharmacies, medical centres, opticians, orthopaedic clinics, newspaper shops, tobacconists, petrol stations, pet food suppliers, technology suppliers, internet suppliers and laundries are allowed to open. Hairdressing salons are not allowed to open, but a mobile service is allowed only to guarantee the care and hygiene of the most vulnerable members of the population. Warnings of a rise The Spanish government has come out in defence of its decision to allow some members of the workforce to return to the coalface this week. Warnings from the WHO caution that any relaxation of the current confinement measures could lead to another spike in infections. Spain’s Minister for Health, Salvador Illa, said that the tighter lockdown was only ever intended to be a temporary measure to take the pressure off the health service. He said “We still have very, very drastic restrictions in place,” and that all decisions taken so far have been taken “on the basis of consensus.”
Salvador Illa, Spain´s Minister for Health
Illa also revealed that the lockdown could go on for a few more weeks at least. “As the prime minister has already said, it’s very probable that these measures will be in force beyond 26 April,” he said. “Spain is not deescalating; we remain in lockdown.” Illa continued, “The information we have at the moment confirms a slowing down of the disease and the growth in new cases is much lower than it was last week, or two weeks ago, or a month ago. He did caution that the lockdown needs to continue, saying, “We know
this is a big sacrifice for everyone, but it’s one that has to be made. If the epidemic carries on going in the same direction, we may be able to alter the response,
but it will always be done prudently, cautiously, and on the basis of the scientific evidence we have.”