Alex Trelinski
THE COMPULSORY wearing of face masks could be abolished this week in Spain’s health centres, dentists, pharmacies and hospitals.
Masks will still have to worn in hospital areas with critically-ill and vulnerable patients as well as being recommended in cases of respiratory infection.
The Interterritorial Health Council representing health ministries across all of Spain’s 17 regions met on Friday and backed the scrapping of a rule introduced over three years ago- two months into the Covid-19 pandemic.
Spain’s Health Minister, Jose Manuel Miñones, said that the change will go before the next meeting of Council of Ministers on Tuesday and will be ‘approved as soon as possible’.
As soon as the rule change is published in the BOE State Gazette, the return to pre-May 2020 conditions will take effect.
“We still want to strongly recommend the use of a mask in certain circumstances and for users to show self-responsibility,” said Manuel Miñones.
Spain has been the slowest of all European countries to remove mask restrictions and it wasn’t until February that the need to wear them on public transport was removed.
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