Staff Reporter
CURRENT restrictions in the Valencian Community due to COVID will be extended beyond February 15.
Regional president Ximo Puig made the announcement yesterday (Sunday) during an online national PSPV party conference.
Recent infection figures are reflecting a slight and gradual improvement, which the Generalitat aims to maintain by continuing the restrictions on socialising and movement beyond the current deadline of next Monday.
Puig did not clarify how much longer the bar and restaurant closures and municipal lockdowns will continue.
However, if the executive’s strategy of working in two-week blocks is maintained, this would extend the restrictions until at least March 1.
The president explained that, although statistics are improving, the pressure on hospitals continues to be very high, which forces the authorities to act with utmost caution.
“We are better than we were, but still not in a good situation,” Puig said.
Sources close to the Generalitat pointed out that, given the ever-changing nature of the pandemic, it is impossible to determine whether the new extension of the restrictions will be the same as the previous ones.
However, the same spokespeople insisted that the main points will remain unchanged – namely the closure of bars and restaurants, the nocturnal curfew, and municipal lockdowns for larger cities.
Meanwhile, vaccinations continue at a steady rate and Puig expressed his hopes that, if the most vulnerable citizens are inoculated by the end of this month, March could see the opening of a whole new chapter in the fight against COVID.
Finally, the Valencia president congratulated ‘the vast majority’ of the population on their ‘exemplary behaviour’, adding that mobility throughout the region has been reduced by 50%.
However, he admitted that people are becoming ‘fed up’ with the situation, and that now ‘is the time to persist and not become complacent’.
