Laurence Dollimore
ANDALUCIA is expected to bring in stricter measures in its fight against COVID-19 on Tuesday.
The Ministry of Health will meet with the region’s technical-scientific committee on Monday with the aim of having new measures approved at the Governing Council meeting the following day.
But speaking at a public event in Guadalhorce today, Junta president Juanma Moreno did not reveal what the new rules will be nor where they will be applied.
The Partido Popular leader only said that they would be ‘rigorous measures based on technical and scientific data.’
He also asked residents to take extra care when visiting family members and friends in their homes.
“Sometimes there is more danger in the living room than walking through the streets,” Moreno said.
“When you are in your living room with your neighbour, your cousin or brother, maybe you take off your masks and give them two kisses and you share a plate of jamon.
“This is what can happen and it is how infections arise.”
He added that while he understands that the majority of Andalucia ‘wants to continue with a certain normality and continue to have economic activity… health is above all.’
“As long as there is no vaccine or effective treatment, we have to find the formula to live with the pandemic,” he added.
It is not known if the measures set to be announced will be region-wide or applied to certain towns or cities.
It comes after national health minister Salvador Illa advised on Friday that any zone with an incidence rate of 500 cases per 100,000 inhabitants or above close itself off and introduce lockdown-style measures.
As of Friday, there were five municipalities in Malaga with incidence rates higher than 500 – Guaro, with 2,964, Jimera de Libar (1,075), Sayalonga (832.8), Sierra de Yeguas (687.4) and Serrato (628.9).
While these are mostly very small municipalities, larger parts of the province are close to the 500 mark.
Marbella had an incidence rate of 374.5 while Coin and Monda had rates of 352.2 and 385.5 respectively.
Figures from the weekend that are counted on Monday will likely have an impact on the measures taken.
