At a time when we are already able to speak of a “flu & rdquor; from covid for it to become a respiratory pathology like the others, the need to eliminate the obligation to wear a mask indoors is imposed as a measure that many experts advise “out of social necessity & rdquor; and how explicit symbol of an effective return to normality. The Ministry of Health and the autonomous communities have already agreed to cease the meticulous count of positives, with surveillance of the “sentinel” type; to be aware of the variants and with a follow-up of serious cases, but without the continuous tracking that has been carried out until now. This very Wednesday, for example, The network of trackers in Catalonia will no longer be operational, and although there is a slight rebound in cases, the incidence of healthcare pressure has not increased.
Without throwing the bells on the fly and always attentive to the evolution of the transmission community, even more so in especially vulnerable groups, the truth is that the next step is the removal of the masks, as is already happening in other countries around us. In France, they will cease to be mandatory next Monday, as in the Netherlands (restricted to public transport and in health facilities and residences), while in the United Kingdom or Denmark they are no longer so in any case, beyond the guidelines that were already present before the pandemic. The ‘conseller’ of Health, Josep Maria Argimon, who promoted the withdrawal first in the school environment, has already spoken out in favor of a “normalization & rdquor; In general, a decision that, according to him, is already beginning to be “urgent & rdquor ;.
Epidemiological stability
It should be remembered, however, that unlike other measures that are the responsibility of the communities (such as the use of the covid passport or public capacity), the use of the mask is regulated by a Royal Decree to which all administrations must abide. The irruption in December of the omicron variant It reintroduced – and until the beginning of February – the use even outdoors (an option highly criticized at the time), but the epidemiological stability that we are experiencing today advises the immediate announcement of the lifting of the mask restriction, a measure that, according to President Pedro Sánchez “it will arrive very soon & rdquor; and that, in the words of the Minister of Health, “is getting closer & rdquor ;.
In the last meeting of the Interterritorial Health Council held on Thursday, no consensus was reached on the subject, but it is foreseeable that the Spanish Government (some voices even speak of this very Sunday at the conference of presidents) will proclaim the end of a constriction that has been with us practically for two years. We must be cautious, of course, and appeal above all to common sense and individual responsibility in situations in which the mask will continue to be recommended. Not only in areas such as risk groups, residences for the elderly or between vulnerable groups, but also in cases where common sense advises minimal health protection. We will not be able to affirm that the pandemic is just a memory, but from the symbolic perspective of citizenship put aside masks As usual, it will be a decisive step.