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Catalonia prepares to ease Covid-19 restictions

Bars, restaurants and movie theatres will reopen on Monday in Catalonia, Spain's northeastern region, after being closed for over a month as part of measures to slow coronavirus infections, the regional government said Thursday.

Published: 19 November 2020 18:25 CET
Catalonia prepares to ease Covid-19 restictions
Photo: AFP

The wealthy region centred on capital Barcelona closed bars and restaurants on October 16th, imposed a night-time curfew and partially restricted entry from other regions of Spain as part of measures to fight the pandemic.

But starting Monday, the regional government will allow bars and restaurants to reopen, although only until 9:30 pm and with a limit indoors of 30 percent of their capacity.

Cinemas, theatres and concert halls will also be able to reopen, but with a capacity of 50 percent.

The regional government however has maintained the night-time curfew as well as the limits on movements of people into and out of the region.    

“We have managed to change the dynamic of the pandemic without having to resort to a strict lockdown” like the one imposed in March during the first wave of the pandemic, Catalonia's regional vice president Pere Aragones told a news conference.

Like in the rest of Spain, the number of new Covid-19 infections has been falling in Catalonia, which imposed strict virus restrictions which were harshly criticised by local businesses.Spain is one of the hardest-hit nations in the European Union by the pandemic, with over 42,000 deaths and more than 1.5 million cases.

“The situation has stabilised (with a tendency) towards less cases, but the situation remains very worrying, because we have a high incidence rate,” Health Minister Salvador Illa said Wednesday.

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COVID-19

Public Health Agency recommends two Covid doses next year for elderly

Sweden's Public Health Agency is recommending that those above the age of 80 should receive two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine a year, once in the spring and once in the autumn, as it shifts towards a longer-term strategy for the virus.

Published: 23 December 2022 10:53 CET
Public Health Agency recommends two Covid doses next year for elderly

In a new recommendation, the agency said that those living in elderly care centres, and those above the age of 80 should from March 1st receive two vaccinations a year, with a six month gap between doses. 

“Elderly people develop a somewhat worse immune defence after vaccination and immunity wanes faster than among young and healthy people,” the agency said. “That means that elderly people have a greater need of booster doses than younger ones. The Swedish Public Health Agency considers, based on the current knowledge, that it will be important even going into the future to have booster doses for the elderly and people in risk groups.” 

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People between the ages of 65 and 79 years old and young people with risk factors, such as obesity, diabetes, poor kidney function or high blood pressure, are recommended to take one additional dose per year.

The new vaccination recommendation, which will start to apply from March 1st next year, is only for 2023, Johanna Rubin, the investigator in the agency’s vaccination programme unit, explained. 

She said too much was still unclear about how long protection from vaccination lasted to institute a permanent programme.

“This recommendation applies to 2023. There is not really an abundance of data on how long protection lasts after a booster dose, of course, but this is what we can say for now,” she told the TT newswire. 

It was likely, however, that elderly people would end up being given an annual dose to protect them from any new variants, as has long been the case with influenza.

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