The counselor of the Department of Health Gotzone Sagardui announced today in the press conference after the Governing Council, that she will request this week authorization to the Superior Court of Justice of the Basque Country to require the Covid-19 certificate in certain activities.

As they have advanced, its use is being evaluated for people over 12 years old in nightlife establishments, in establishments or places where musical and dance activities such as concerts are carried out, or in restaurants where large groups of people with capacity can coincide simultaneously authorized more than 50 diners.

Sagardui explained that these places have been selected because they are conditions that “very significantly” increase the risk of transmission of the virus, such as “the removal of a mask to consume food or beverages, the noise that forces them to raise their voices and, therefore, an increase in aerosols; standing and, therefore, greater circulation and relaxation of the measures “, to which is added” the difficulty of ventilation as they are closed spaces “.

The counselor has pointed out that in order to apply this measure, judicial authorization is necessary and has pointed out that “there are already several communities that have long requested the Spanish State to establish the legal framework to be able to apply it in a generalized way, as has been done in other places in Europe “.

New prevention measures

The Department of Health of the Basque Government has announced new measures with the aim of avoid crowds in municipalities with an incidence greater than 150 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. This is a new order that complements the previous one, so the measures approved on October 6 will remain in force.

The new guidelines will therefore not apply only in the eight localities with an incidence of more than 400 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, as expected, but in municipalities with a rate higher than 150 cases.

At present they are 40 municipalities of more than 5000 inhabitants of the Basque Autonomous Community (CAV) that exceed the cumulative incidence of 150 cases per 100 000 inhabitants. In Álava, only Salvatierra is above 150 and in Bizkaia the list amounts to 10 towns with Durango or Gernika among them.

Gipuzkoa is with 29 the territory with the most localities with an incidence greater than 150. Errenteria, Irun, Mondragon and Tolosa are just some of them. Furthermore, San Sebastián is the only one of the three capitals that exceeds this barrier.

In these municipalities, therefore, new measures will be implemented aimed at avoiding crowds, complementary to existing ones. Let us remember the current measures: 80% limit in events organized in closed spaces and venues with a capacity of more than 5000 people; prohibition of eating and drinking indoors or at sporting and cultural events held abroad; you can only drink water. It can only be consumed in places specially equipped for eating and drinking.

Finally, it is mandatory to use the mask indoors, and also outdoors, if the safety distance cannot be respected.

With these new guidelines, the aim is to guarantee public health and that all agents and people are aware of their role in the evolution of the pandemic.