Alex Trelinski
MURCIA is bringing in COVID-19 passports to follow suit with regions like the neighbouring Valencian Community.
Murcia’s Health Minister, Juan Jose Pedreño, announced this Tuesday that the government is seeking permission from the regional Superior Court to introduce the measure.
The plan is to start using passports from midnight on the day after the Superior Court approves the measure, which is seen as a formality.
The document would be enforced until at least January 14.
The EU COVID certificate will operate for indoor access to all hospitality, nightlife, and banqueting/celebration venues.
Outdoor terraces would be unaffected.
Indoor capacity limits will however continue to vary between municipalities depending on local COVID case levels.
Juan Jose Pedreño said: “The passport will enable us to avoid imposing more drastic restrictions if infection rates continue to rise.”
The Minister added that most of the recent COVID outbreaks resulted from social gatherings, especially nightlife, where there is ‘greater social interaction and infections’.
Murcia’s hospitality association, HoyTu, called for COVID passports to be introduced at a news conference on November 26.
They argued that passports should be used in all indoor venues and not just hospitality.
Juan Jose Pedreño said that the COVID incidence rate had shown an average rise of 40% in the last week.
The Murcia region has a rate of 301.8 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days and 174.7 accumulated positives in the last week.
“Out of solidarity with everyone and to protect the most vulnerable people who are at risk, we ask those who have not yet been vaccinated to please do so,” appealed Pedreño.
He stressed that unvaccinated residents who had been infected are ‘twice as likely’ to be reinfected by COVID compared to those who were vaccinated.
“It has been shown that unvaccinated people can transmit the virus up to 12 times more than those who have been inoculated,” he added.
Spain announced this Tuesday that vaccinations will be extended to children aged between 5 and 11 years, perhaps from as soon as next week.
Last week, Juan Jose Pedrenò said that the highest number of new Murcia cases were coming from that age group.
READ MORE:-
- COVID-19 vaccines approved for children aged 5 to 11 in Spain
- Spain’s Christmas party warning after 68 Malaga medics catch COVID-19 at super-spreader seasonal lunch
