Alex Trelinski
COVID-19 restrictions will largely be abolished from this Saturday(October 9) in the Valencian Community.
As expected, Valencian president, Ximo Puig, has announced the scrapping of capacity orders on hospitality and nightlife businesses in addition to leisure venues.
There are some caveats though with some measures retained.
Nightlife businesses can open for their full licensing hours.
Dance floor use is restored but people must wear a mask.
Customers can stand or sit at a bar in hospitality and nightlife venues, but a ten person limit at indoor tables is maintained.
Smoking remains banned on outdoor terraces and existing mask wearing rules continue both indoors as well as outside if a 1.5 metre safe distance cannot be maintained.
Cinemas, theatres, auditoriums, and theatres can operate at 100% capacity, but if people are drinking or eating, there must be a gap of one seat between them.
For professional football and basketball leagues, the 80% limit is maintained indoors, and 100% outdoors.
Capacity restrictions end for sports facilities like gyms and swimming pools.
Organisers of festivals and major events will be able to enjoy greater capacity if they run their own scheme of asking people to show a vaccination certificate or proof of testing negative for COVID-19.
The regional government has backed-off from formally introducing COVID-19 passports because of fears that the measure would be rejected by the Supreme Court.
Valencian president, Ximo Puig, said: “We are still going to live with the coronavirus for a while and we need the utmost prudence and responsibility.”
COVID-19 cases are now below 40 per 100,000 Valencian Community residents which puts the region into a ‘low risk’ category for the spread of the coronavirus.
A major factor is the vaccination rate with Ximo Puig stating that ‘within the next few days, 90% of the population will have been fully vaccinated’.
Appealing to people who have still to be inoculated, Puig said: “ Vaccination is the best response to make progress in overcoming the pandemic.”
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