After the extraordinary Council of Ministers held in La Moncloa this Friday, the Minister of Health, Salvador Illa, announced which territories will go through the phase starting this Monday, May 25. The big question was in Madrid and Barcelona, if the two largest cities in Spain could finally go to phase 1; the capital had made two attempts, without success; Barcelona, meanwhile, had preferred to wait until they had better data to request the pass. And the news was confirmed, both the province of Madrid and the metropolitan area of Barcelona are in phase 1.
The same happens with the other territories that were still in phase 0, the Baix Montseny in Catalonia and several basic health areas in Castilla y León. From Monday, all of Spain will be, at least, in phase 1 of the de-escalation process. Castilla y León has asked to change the phase request process, it will no longer be requested by basic areas, but by provinces; all nine are already in phase 1. Therefore, Madrid, Castilla y León, Comunidad Valenciana, the health areas of Catalonia in Girona, Lleida, Central Catalonia, Barcelona Ciutat, Metropolitana Norte and Metropolitana Sur, the provinces of Toledo, Ciudad Real and Albacete in Castilla-La Mancha and the provinces of Granada and Malaga in Andalusia.
Minister Illa explained that “Caution is the way that is working. I give a sincere congratulation to all the autonomous communities, we are not only going out, we are coming out stronger. The Community of Madrid has provided documentation that has been studied and meets the requirements to advance to phase 1. No other reason has prevailed than the strictly technical and the precaution that has guided this decision making “.
Salvador Illa also announced which territories access phase 2, after having already completed their two-week process in phase 1 (the minimum time in each phase has to do with the incubation time of the virus, although Health has already stated that it will be flexible in this matter, so it is not ruled out that some region passes phase in less time).
Galicia, Asturias, the Basque Country, Cantabria, La Rioja, Navarra, Aragon are already in phase 2 since Monday, in Catalonia the health areas of Camp de Tarragona, Alt Pirineu i Arán and Terres de l’Ebre, the provinces of Guadalajara and Cuenca in Castilla-La Mancha, Murcia, Extremadura, six provinces of Andalusia (Huelva, Seville, Córdoba, Cádiz, Jaén and Almería), Ceuta, Melilla and the islands that remained to pass in the Canary Islands and Balearic Islands.
The Valencian Community had planned to request the passage to phase 2, but it has backed down when detecting a small rebound in cases, so you will choose to wait and request the phase step later, predictably next week. Currently, some 25 million inhabitants, 53% of the Spanish population, are in phase 1; and the remaining 22 million people, in phase 2.
Regarding a possible expansion of Madrid to advance to phase 2, Illa sees no difference between the Spanish capital and the rest of the communities. “Initially the criterion is to stay 14 days in each phase to assess the epidemic evolution and this also applies to Madrid, where it will be subject to how everything evolves like the other communities. The information you sent us is that the requirements to go to phase 1 are met, also for the early detention of cases, make a diagnostic test with 24 hours and keep in isolation if necessary. “
Regarding the masks and their general use, Illa indicated that “they have to be hygienic or surgical, for the population they are adequate and from there I do not enter into reproaches or controversies with each autonomous community. “In this section he also wanted to acknowledge the behavior of the Spanish population.”We also congratulate all citizens for the security with which they follow the measures and each step we take must be a safe step. The de-escalation is complex, difficult and therefore we appeal to prudence, individual responsibility and act according to the guidelines from those of the different health authorities. “
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