Travel within Catalonia restricted from Friday onwards

BarcelonaTravel between counties (comarcas) inside Catalonia will be restricted from Friday, ARA has known. Procicat met urgently at noon to approve new restrictions, since occupation of ICU beds continues to increase and the epidemiological data are difficult to interpret due to the Easter holidays. According to the latest update, there are 1,712 people admitted to hospital for covid-19, 458 of them in ICU, 13 more than Tuesday.

Health professionals have called for restrictions to curb the impact of the fourth wave in hospitals, which is already very tense. The coordinator of covid-19 and head of the infectious diseases service of the Hospital del Mar, Juan Pablo Horcajada, has warned this morning that with only 6% of the population vaccinated, "the only way to stop the fourth wave is restrictions". In an interview with ARA, he has noted that health centre staff has felt the rise in hospitalisations. "For days it has been progressive, but now the curve is rising, especially on the ward".

The Catalan Secretary of Public Health, Josep Maria Argimon, acknowledged on Tuesday that the rate of increase in admissions and serious cases is unsustainable. This health stress is precisely the key indicator when deciding whether to take tougher measures that affect mobility and gatherings. The rest of the epidemiological indicators today showed a total of 1,690 new covid cases in the last 24 hours and 30 more deaths. Effective Potential Growth (EPG) is down 10 points (223) and the Rt - speed of infection - is down 6 hundredths (0.93).

Similar restrictions were in place until a month ago, on March 15. They were relaxed over Easter and, previously, over Christmas.