Covid passport use could be extended to restaurants, cultural venues, or gyms

The Catalan health department's Covid-19 Scientific Advisory Committee has proposed requiring Covid-19 passports for entry into restaurants, cultural venues, or gyms, especially if the incidence rate continues to rise.

In an interview with public broadcaster TV3 on Sunday, Dr. Magda Campins said that the next two weeks would be "decisive" in terms of determining what measures will be needed, but suggested contagion rates could possibly remain lower than they have in the UK as there is a higher percentage of vaccinated people in Catalonia. 

Extending the use of EU certificates beyond nightclubs is "probably the next step" in order to avoid more severe restrictions, such as limiting opening hours, Campins said.

The Scientific Advisory Committee is working on a report establishing at which point this would be necessary and which it expects to present to the health department in the coming days.

Campins also stated she was against lifting the face mask mandate in schools: "In indoor spaces, my opinion is that right now is not the time to not make their use mandatory." 

Delta plus variant

This comes a day after Catalan health minister Josep Maria Argimon warned a handful of cases of the Delta Plus variant had been detected in Catalonia.  

Argimon urged residents to "exercise extreme caution" as temperatures continue to drop and socializing takes place increasingly indoors.

It remains unclear whether this new variant, which is thought to have arrived in Catalonia via the UK, is more transmissible. 

The health minister, who was previously public health secretary, is concerned with recent Covid-19 figures, which show that the downward trend has halted and case numbers are beginning to rise again slightly.

Argimon said that while they had predicted some growth in infection rates, the expected data for the coming week "worries him."

He also pointed out that evidence suggests that coronavirus is "seasonal", being most likely to spread during autumn and early winter, "a little before the flu."

Covid-19 in Catalonia

As of October 23, 2021, official figures, released daily on this website, state there have been 1,000,797 confirmed Covid-19 cases (PCR tests and others including antibody tests), and a total of 23,993 people with or suspected to have had the virus have died since the beginning of the outbreak according to funeral homes.

 5,965,450 residents have been given the first dose of the vaccine, 75.5% of the total population. Out of those, 5,127,897 have also been administered a second dose (65.1% of the total population). 5,855,053 residents are considered to be fully immunized (74.1%). 

Under 65s who have already had the virus are only required to have the first dose, and others have received a single-dose jab. Therefore, the % of two doses administered and % fully immunized do not match.

The transmission rate, currently 1.16, has risen steadily from 0.80 over the past week, while the outbreak risk has also increased from 37 to 52 over the same period. The outbreak risk is calculated using an EPG index, which is found by multiplying the average spread of the virus over the past seven days by the cumulative incidence over the past two weeks.