Masks will once again be mandatory in hospitals and health centers in Spain from this Wednesday due to the increase in respiratory infections

(CNN Spanish) — The Spanish government will reimpose the mandatory use of masks in hospitals and health centers from this Wednesday, Pilar Alegría, Minister of Education, Vocational Training and Sports and Spanish government spokesperson, said on Tuesday. Its use is not required at these locations from July 5, 2023.

With this measure, the Spanish executive intends to stem the current increase in infections that the country is suffering from, including flu, COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus. “Tripledemic” And this is being felt, especially in the emergency services of many health centres. “If we want to return to normal to avoid strain and collapse in our hospitals, our health centers, our primary care centers, decisions have to be taken,” Alegría justified at the end of the weekly Council of Ministers.

Health Minister Mónica García informed health advisors from different regions of the country this Monday of the need to recover this measure, although there was no consensus on the matter. For this reason, it offered a period of forty-eight hours – which ends this Wednesday – so that regional representatives could present allegations and contributions to this government proposal.

Some autonomous communities, such as Madrid, criticized the initiative. The region was criticized by President Isabel Díaz Ayuso in a tweet shared via her official X profile, saying “Making masks mandatory now shows improvement.” Imposition for the sake of imposition is a resource of the weak manager,” he added.

However, due to this increase in infections, at least six autonomous communities have decided to make its use mandatory in health centers as of this Tuesday. Specifically, these are: Canary Islands, Catalonia, Aragon, Valencia, Murcia and Asturias.