POPULAR holiday spots in Spain are reintroducing the mandatory mask as Covid cases in the country.
Those taking a break from the British winter sun to holiday in Benidorm may want to put their mask back on amid emerging Covid and flu cases.
Hospitals and gyms throughout Spain have patients lying in the hallways waiting for hours to be treated.
And family doctors across the country are calling for masks to be mandatory in health care facilities across the country.
They say the wave of Covid and flu, which arrived over the winter, is spiraling out of control.
Although the Spanish government has yet to introduce any laws making it mandatory to wear them, different regions have set out new rules.
Valencia, which has more than 800,000 inhabitants, has already set guidelines.
Benidorm, in Alicante, is part of the Valencia municipality.
Its health department on Friday reinstated the obligatory use of masks while inside a health centre.
The move is an attempt to counter the climbing rise in respiratory infections and protect the vulnerable as officials said the area’s health services are reportedly at the point of collapse.
For every 100,000 city residents, the fitness center is treating 1,501 cases, and hospitals are operating at near capacity.
Health authorities are also planning to vaccinate against flu and Covid from Monday, on a walk-in basis.
Several 2023 reports on respiratory infections, Covid, showed an expanding rate globally.
The number of people receiving treatment in primary care increased from 806 to 908 times, compared to an additional 100,000 people in just one week.
Certain situations apply to those who must wear masks.
Symptomatic people in shared spaces, professionals who care for symptomatic cases and people who work in intensive care or with vulnerable patients must wear them.
The rules also apply inside hospitals or primary care emergency facilities or in places where patients and families are gathered – like waiting rooms.
The surge in cases is expected to peak in the third week of January.
Lately there are hospitals in the province of Valencia with an occupancy rate of 96%.
Family doctors attend to 15 patients every day who are out of hours due to the accumulation of infections, with influenza A being the one that treats in seven out of ten cases.
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