The regional authorities of Madrid recommended this Friday to citizens not to leave home in the areas most affected by the coronavirus, which continues its escalation throughout Spain, with 3,650 new infections in the last 24 hours according to the latest official data, while considering new restrictive measures throughout the country such as the closure of brothels and hostess.
The Spanish Ministry of Health notified another 8,148 coronavirus infections this Friday, to a total of 386,054 since the start of the pandemic, while the death toll stands at 28,838, 125 of them in the last week.
Of the 3,650 new positives certified since yesterday Thursday, a third were registered in Madrid (1,199), which continues to occupy the first position in terms of the number of daily infections.
Madrid advises not to leave home
This situation today led the Madrid regional executive to recommend staying at home in the southern areas of the region, those with the lowest income and those most affected by the virus, and avoiding unnecessary trips.
In some of those districts where the highest rate of infections is taking place, health authorities are conducting random PCR tests and selective confinements are being ruled out for the moment, the Regional Deputy Minister of Public Health and the COVID-19 Plan explained to the media today. , Antonio Zapatero.
Besides not leaving homeZapatero also insisted that they should “avoid unnecessary meetings” and that it is “absolutely recommended” that there are no more than ten people in the homes.
Controversial judicial decision
Madrid was also a point of attention due to the controversial decision of a judge to annul the ban on smoking in public if a distance of two meters is not respected, as well as the closure of nightlife venues to stop cases of coronavirus.
These measures were agreed last week between the Ministry of Health and the regional executives of Spain before the advance of the pandemic, especially among the youngest population groups, with many of the cases linked to the meetings of family and friends and to the night entertainment.
In the judicial order, made public this Friday, the magistrate points out that “from an autonomous community fundamental rights cannot be limited in general without a prior declaration of the alarm”, something that is the responsibility of the central government.
The same prohibitions are in force in other Spanish regions, such as the Basque Country (north), second after Madrid in number of infections with 685, followed by Aragon (east), with 342, and Andalusia (south), with 303, according to the Health balance.
Brothel closure
Meanwhile, regional authorities are studying how to overcome the legal vacuum that prevents the closure of brothels and hostess, after there have been cases of positives in some of them, and the great difficulty to carry out a follow-up with PCR test between the clients.
The Spanish Minister of Equality, Irene Montero, on Thursday urged the Spanish autonomous communities to close these places, as was done with those for nightlife, since the infections that occur in these places can lead to an “increase potential for difficult-to-trace positives. “
The leftist Montero sent a letter to the regional councilors asking them to adopt specific measures to stop the virus when “the pandemic is still a reality” in Spain.
“Without prejudice to our constant fight against sexual exploitation, I consider it important that we act specifically on those places where prostitution is practiced,” the minister said in the letter, who also asked for “decent alternatives” so that prostitutes can face this situation.
Catalonia closes, Madrid studies it
It is the autonomous communities that have the powers toTo be able to close or limit the hours of the brothels, some places that are often registered as hotel or hospitality businesses, so they would not be affected equally by the limitations agreed between the central and regional governments, which do have full effect, for example, in nightclubs.
In Catalonia, brothels were closed today when its regional government adopted extraordinary measures together with the undated closure of nightlife venues that includes “public establishments with reserved annexes,” sources from the Catalan health department explained to Efe.
In Madrid, the Minister of Health, Enrique Ruiz Escudero, assured that the demand of the Minister of Equality is being assessed, although he specified that there are difficulties in adopting this type of decision, since it is an unregulated activity.
Other Spanish autonomous communities such as Castilla-La Mancha have also decreed the closure of brothels for 24 hours a day, although it will be effective as of next Sunday.
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