Stop, and select reverse gear. Catalonia's steady progress in recent weeks towards a de-escalation of Covid-19 restrictions has been forced to a halt and is now going backwards. The Catalan government has today decided to close the nightlife sector operating in indoor spaces from this coming Friday 9th July. The measure will be valid for two weeks, but music festivals have been left out of the decision. Nevertheless, it will be mandatory to have an antigen test or to have been completely vaccinated in order to access events of more than 500 people. The Catalan authorities are also urging the Spanish government to re-introduce compulsory mask wearing and they recommend that in Catalonia masks should be worn outside, except when people are completely alone or with only their cohabitation bubble.
This morning it transpired that the Catalan executive had urgently convened the nightlife business association to discuss the new restrictions, given the rapid increase in Covid infections in the last two weeks. In fact, this Tuesday, Catalonia announced almost 6,000 new infections in just 24 hours. At the same time, record figures are registered recorded in the EPG outbreak risk index, which is already at 1,281 points while the Rt transmission rate has risen to 3.30. That is, for every 10 people with the virus, they are currently passing it on 33 others.
High numbers of cases among young people
Coronavirus cases are now concentrated in the younger part of the population, especially in the 20-30 age group. In fact, the UPC scientific group BIOCOMSC has announced that they estimate that one in 40 young people will become infected in this wave and estimates that infection rates will reach 50,000 a week in Catalonia.
Thus, in a context in which more and more people are infected with the Delta variant, the CatSalut public health system has opted to accelerate the vaccination of the population over 16 years (for whom vaccination began at the start of July) and also to reduce to eight weeks the period between the first and second dose of AstraZeneca, being administered to the population aged 60 to 69 years. The goal is to ensure maximum immunity among the overall population, and on Monday, the fully vaccinated proportion of the Catalan population reached the 40% mark.
Evolution of new Covid-19 cases in Catalonia
"Death sentence"
The president of the Fecasarm nightlife sector association, Joaquim Boadas, said before attending the meeting with the Catalan government that he wanted them to impose antigen tests as a requirement for access to dance clubs and late night venues - something the association has been demanding for days - and that, in the case of a new closure, "it would mean the definitive ruin, the death sentence."
With this new restriction, the late night sector will close its doors again having only reopened two weeks ago. The Catalan government approved its reopening on June 21st with maximum occupancy of 50% indoors and 100% outdoors. Venues have been able to open until 3:30am and masks had to be worn all the time on the dance floors - but the rules imposed were seen as problematic to enforce.
Last week, Fecasarm was already calling for a "more ambitious sector plan" and proposed that the antigen tests be made mandatory in order to enter nightclubs, as well as the obligatory implementation of air and surface disinfection appliances. In fact, some nightlife venues began to include quick diagnostic tests in the ticket price to make their opening viable. Others decided to close until firmer measures were taken.
Then, the Catalan health minister, Josep Maria Argimon, opened the door to implementing new restrictions on the nightlife sector. In relation to the antigen tests, Argimon stated that the measure could be carried out as long as it was the people in charge of the premises who organized these screenings before allowing access to the premises.
For its part, the Catalan Socialist party has called on the Pere Aragonès government to prepare financial assistance measures for the nightlife sector because it is the sector "that has been closed the longest" and "suffered the most from the crisis."
Mask up, outside as well
Speaking this morning, Catalan government spokesperson Patrícia Plaja announced the new nightlife restrictions, to apply from this Friday, and also recommended that the Catalan public should return to wearing masks outside, except when completely alone or only accompanied by people in their cohabitation group. "With the data we have, we think masks should be compulsory again in Catalonia, but it is in the hands of the Spanish government to modify the usage norms."
Main image: Young people queuing to enter a nightclub in Barcelona / Europa Press.