Health minister proposes allowing students return after Easter break without masks

Catalonia’s health minister, Josep Maria Argimon, has proposed allowing school students to return to class after the Easter break without face masks. 

Pupils return on April 19, while the Spanish government has already announced that from the following day, April 20, face-coverings will no longer be necessary in most indoor settings, except for public transport, nursing homes and hospitals.

Thus, effectively, if Argimon's proposal is approved by the Catalan committee monitoring the Covid-19 situation, students will not have to wear face masks in school a day before the rest of the public. 

Talking to public broadcaster TV3 on Thursday, Argimon said that his department already had legislation ready to enforce the measure before Spain announced the end of the face mask mandate indoors.

Yet, even after the announcement in Madrid on Wednesday, Catalonia will go ahead with April 19 as the first day without them because, according to Argimon, it makes no sense to wear it on April 19, the first day after the Easter break, and not wear it the day after.

The Catalan cabinet member had already warned he would ease the measure for schools if Spain did not make the decision coming into force this week. 

New pandemic protocol

Catalonia recently made the decision to no longer provide daily Covid-19 updates, as they had for two years, but rather only twice a week. 

The new protocol was decided because there is no longer now an obligation to be tested for the coronavirus for the general population, and therefore the figures are no longer comparable with those registered in the past two years. 

Testing are only compulsory for people aged 60+, vulnerable people, people working in places where vulnerable people are i.e. health centers and care homes, cases of serious illness, and people returning from countries with new variants.

Close contacts of positive cases are no longer actively contacted by health authorities. Instead, this is done only through with a self-declaration process. Close contacts do not need to have a Covid test or quarantine any more, and positive cases with mild or no symptoms do not have to quarantine either.