Covid-19 updates will only be provided twice a week, no longer daily
Health authorities made change of protocol due to ‘stabilization’ of the situation and cited high immunization rates
Catalan health authorities will no longer provide Covid-19 data every day, but instead only on Tuesdays and Fridays, starting on March 28. Officials confirmed the change of protocol in a press conference on Friday morning.
The new protocol has been decided because there will also no longer be an obligation to be tested for the coronavirus for the general population, and therefore the figures will not be comparable with those registered in the past two years.
Testing will only be compulsory for people aged 60+, vulnerable people, people working in places where vulnerable people are i.e. health centers and care homes, cases of serious illness, and people returning from countries with new variants.
Close contacts of positive cases will no longer be actively contacted by health authorities. Instead, this will only be done with a process of self-declaration. They will not need to have a Covid test or quarantine.
No quarantines for Covid positives
The decision is part of Catalonia's adaptation to the new strategy to monitor the pandemic approved by the Spanish health ministry and regional governments earlier this week, which included removing quarantines for people positive with Covid-19 but who only have light symptoms or none at all. The new protocol comes into force next Monday, March 28.
The obligation to stay home and get a test will only apply to vulnerable communities or those sharing spaces with vulnerable people.
Public health secretary Carmen Cabezas said in the press conference that a high degree of immunity thanks to both the vaccines and the large number of people contracting the Omicron variant of the virus this winter are enabling authorities to ease the surveillance of Covid-19.
"The health system has to resume activity, such as monitoring chronic diseases, and identifying serious illnesses," she said.
"We need to return to normal in the amount of self-isolations and sick leaves. If someone gets Covid, they do not need to follow strict confinement, but they have to follow safety measures, especially with vulnerable people," said the official in charge of monitoring public health emergencies in Catalonia, Jacobo Mendioroz.
As for when the face mask requirement indoors will be dropped, Cabezas explained they have raised the issue to other territories, especially thinking of schools, but Spain is calling for waiting a bit longer in order to see if the new protocol is working.
Self-performed tests no longer valid for sick leaves
Cabezas also explained that sick leaves will no longer be automatic when testing positive, but the doctor will decide whether to grant it depending on the symptoms, as happens with other illnesses.
Self-performed tests will no longer count as official proof of having gone through the disease. If a person finds out they are positive after a test bought in a pharmacy, they are recommended, but not obliged, to stay home. And if a sick leave is required, they need to contact their primary care center.