From age 6 and for 15 days: who and how does the mandatory mask affect them?

BarcelonaHe Official Gazette of the Government of Catalonia (DOGC) published this Wednesday the resolution that makes the use of face masks mandatory Masks are required in healthcare and residential facilities to combat the worst flu epidemic in 15 years. The document states that everyone aged six and over must wear a mask whenever they are in healthcare facilities—including mental health facilities—or in residential centers for the elderly or people with disabilities. The resolution is valid for 15 calendar days starting this Wednesday. The resolution affects workers, patients, and visitors of the affected centers, but establishes a series of exceptions. Specifically, patients will not be required to wear masks when they remain in their rooms. This also applies to people with any type of illness or respiratory difficulty that could be aggravated by wearing a mask, or who, due to their disability or dependency, are unable to remove the mask independently, or who exhibit behavioral issues that make its use unfeasible. The Generalitat (Catalan government) reminds everyone that the mask must fit snugly against the face and mouth, covering from the bridge of the nose to the chin. Among the cases exempt from the new requirement are those in which its use is incompatible due to the nature of the activities and "in accordance with the indications of the health authorities," it was resolved.

The decision to reinstate masks in healthcare and residential centers was made this Tuesday by the Catalan government in response to an unprecedented flu epidemic in the last 15 years. The disease is spreading rapidly; the incidence has increased 2.5 times in the last week, and the level of transmission is already very high, according to the latest update from the Infection Surveillance Information System in Catalonia (SIVIC), which monitors respiratory diseases in the country. "Wearing a mask [...] helps save lives," argued government spokesperson Silvia Paneque this Tuesday.

Masks will be mandatory in health centers in response to the worst flu outbreak in the last fifteen years.