The Valencian Consell has agreed an extension of the current coronavirus restrictions, due to end on 15 February, until 1 March. The Community President, Ximo Puig, said “These are difficult decisions that we don’t like, and we would like to announce otherwise, but everything will remain the same.”
The total closure of the hospitality sector and non-essential shops at 6 pm; the curfew between 10 pm and 6 am; the border closure of the Valencian Community and the confinement of the sixteen towns of the Community that have more than 50,000 inhabitants on weekends, are the main measures in force, which will now continue for 15 more days. “The restrictions will last as long as necessary, not one more day,” said Puig, who warned that there will be no rapid, imminent and unwise de-escalation, because it is not on the Consell’s roadmap.
Puig added that the “great effort made by Valencian society in the last two weeks has brought encouraging results”, and that the restrictions “are working faster” than expected. So, he stressed “we are better, but we are still not well”, so “there is still a long way to go to get out of this critical situation in which we still find ourselves.”
The President continued by saying that “the efforts of all society has paid off” and highlighting a 39% decrease in hospitalisations during the last two weeks, a 49% reduction in the accumulated incidence, now 777 positives per 100,000 inhabitants, and that in the last week the those cured of the virus “almost triples” the number of new infections.
Puig said that the incidence has been reduced by 41%. “We still have a way to go if we are to get out of this critical zone.”
“We have made great progress as a society and people, and we have obtained great results with the measures working quickly, but we have to persist,” “We are all suffering from pandemic fatigue” and “we are tired”. “At the end of January there were 75,000 Valencians with covid. Currently there are 42,000, in the last 17 days there are 2,000 fewer hospitalised.
Regarding the closure of the hospitality business and other affected sectors, this Thursday the DOGV has announced a new aid package for the tourism sector. “I trust in the dialogue with the hospitality industry and I do not anticipate taking disciplinary measures,” he added.
