The person in charge of Public Health of Madrid, epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in Spain, resigned this Thursday, just before the region requested the government relax confinement as of Monday, a spokesman for the capital region reported.
Yolanda Fuentes resigned as Director of Public Health of the Community of Madrid, the spokesperson told AFP, without specifying the reasons.
The Spanish press stated that his resignation was due to his disagree with easing confinement in Madrid, the region hardest hit by the coronavirus, with a third of the 26,000 deaths and of the 221,000 reported cases of the new coronavirus in the country.
In a statement, which did not quote Fuentes, the Community of Madrid announced that the lack of confinement will now be in charge of Antonio Zapatero, who ran the field hospital that was erected in the congress center of the capital IFEMA in the face of the collapse of its health system during the height of the epidemic.
The Madrid region, led by Isabel Díaz Ayuso, a militant of the Popular Party (PP, right) and very critical of the government of the socialist Pedro Sánchez, requested this Thursday the Ministry of Health to go on Monday to phase 1 of the lack of confinement, which allows to reopen hotels and restaurant terraces and meetings of up to ten people.
Madrid’s decision came after a strong discussion between the PP and the center-right Ciudadanos party, partners in the regional government, about whether it was advisable to continue in de-escalation.
The Spanish government is carrying out a plan to gradually dismantle one of the most severe confinements in Europe until the end of June, in force since March 14.
The regions can request to pass to the successive phases, which imply more flexibility, if they show that they meet certain criteria, such as having enough beds available in hospitals or having the capacity to isolate sources of contagion.
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