Use of Covid passes to enter establishments extended until Christmas Eve

The Catalan High Court has approved the Catalan government's request to extend the current pandemic measures for two further weeks.

This means that Covid passes must be shown in order to enter bars, restaurants, gyms, and care homes until Christmas Eve, at least. 

Authorities will then evaluate the pandemic situation again and could prolong the measures further, or even possibly tighten or loosen them.

The passes have already been necessary to show in nightclubs and at indoor events which have dance floors for some months. 

The government wants to keep the certificate in place as a means to curb the current rise in Covid-19 transmissions, spokesperson Patrícia Plaja said on Tuesday.

Covid passes have been necessary to show in bars, restaurants, gyms, and care homes since December 3, a week later than authorities initially planned, as the health department's website crashed after so many people tried to download their passes. 

For more on the sixth wave of coronavirus in Catalonia, including Covid certificate FAQs, travel rules, the Omicron variant and forecast for Christmas, take a listen to our recent podcast below.

Rising pandemic indicators

The restriction was brought in to curb rising pandemic indicators amid the 6th wave. 

The number of people hospitalized due to the virus has increased by 211 people over the past week, from 694 to 905, an increase of 30%.

Equally, the number of patients requiring intensive care has risen in tandem, from 148 to 198 in the same time period, a jump of some 33%. 

The IA14, indicating the number of positive cases seen over the past fortnight per 100,000 population, has also increased significantly in recent weeks. 

The past seven days have seen the incidence rate jump from 258 to 374. Just one month ago, this metric stood at around 63, showing a rise of almost 500% since early November. 

New case profile in 6th wave

Most of the new cases and hospitalizations during this 6th wave of the pandemic tend to be among the unvaccinated population. 

Catalan health department figures on those who required hospitalization due to the virus in November show that 9.5 of 100,000 unvaccinated inhabitants aged 12 or more had spent time in ICUs last month – a figure that dropped to 2.3 among the vaccinated.

The difference is even wider for those aged 50 and older, who are six times more likely to end up in ICUs if they refuse to get a jab – 27.2 of every 100,000 unvaccinated inhabitants in this age range needed ICU care, far more than the 4.4 per 100,000 vaccinated in the same age range.

The trend is similar among those in regular hospital beds in November. There were 2.3 times more unvaccinated people in hospitals, a figure that rose to 3.2 times more for those aged 50 and above.

As for ages, the trend in the sixth wave in Catalonia is clear: children under 12, who have not yet been eligible to get the vaccine, have the highest transmission rates. 

As of December 5, the average incidence rate over 14 days (IA14) was 374.77 per 100,000 people, but it was almost twice as high among the 0-9 age group (618). Among 10- to 19-year-olds, which includes children who are still excluded from the rollout, there was an incidence rate of 422.

Covid-19 vaccines have already been approved for children aged 5 and above, and administration of the jabs is expected to begin next week. 

In December, Spain will receive over 1.3 million doses of the paediatric vaccine, and another two million in January 2022.