The high vaccination rates in Spain are controlling the fifth wave of coronavirus that in countries like Germany has caused a new record of infections this morning with almost 67,000 positives and 335 deaths. The data support that the risk of dying from COVID is 25 higher in those who are not vaccinated. The Ministry of Health has highlighted the importance of vaccination (almost 80% of the total population with a complete schedule) with which it has been possible to reduce hospitalizations and deaths.

The Public Health specialist, Pepe Martínez Olmos, recalled in ‘Hoy por hoy’ that the pandemic is still in force: “We know that vaccination is essential but it is not accessible to all countries and there is a risk that new variants will appear.”

Therefore, Martínez Olmos has defended the need to continue with the measures whose effectiveness has already been demonstrated, such as the mask, safety distance, hand washing or ventilation. “To the extent that we can have an increase in cases, we must take measures such as restriction of capacity or limitation of social interactions,” he said.

The Public Health expert defends the traffic light that Health is shaping together with the communities. “The traffic light needs to define the measures to be adopted to restrict capacity, hours and social interactions when the risks are high. It must be established because that would allow decisions to guarantee the protection of health in all territories by And to allow that it was not feasible that within the same traffic light, and under equal conditions, the two models of those who protect more health than the economy coexist or the Madrid model that has sometimes protected the economy more than health “, has said.

“The measures that must come out of the Interterritorial Council must be capable of respecting the autonomy of the communities and that citizens have equal protection of health regardless of the territory in which they live,” he declared.

Health and communities debate sports traffic lights, traffic lights and COVID passport

The Ministry of Health and the autonomous communities meet again this Wednesday in the Interterritorial Council, with an agenda that includes the evolution of the pandemic at a time of increasing infections, the vaccination campaign and the review of anticovid measures at sporting events.

The Ministry of Health and the communities agreed on October 27 to maintain, until November 30, the current capacity in sporting events, which are 100% in open venues and a maximum of 80% in closed facilities. At that time, the incidence of covid was less than 50 cases. Now it is close to 140 per 100,000 inhabitants in 14 days.

The Interterritorial Council meets hours after the Public Health Commission gave the green light to the new covid traffic light that relaxes the risk thresholds that measure the alert level of the pandemic, but without defining the restrictions that will be attached to each of them .

This is one of the substantive issues in the management of the pandemic that are on the table, together with the requests for the implementation of the covid passport for various activities in various autonomous communities, a measure that does not achieve a general consensus on its usefulness and that it does not always obtain judicial endorsement for its application.