Very sad

Covid restrictions Region of Murcia week ending July 11

Los Alcázares and Mazarrón have been moved back to Level three; high alert level

There is little doubt that Covid cases are surging all over Spain following the relaxation of restrictions and here in the Murcia region the incidence rate has increased by 70% in the last week alone.

There has been a considerable increase in active cases, mainly among the population between 13 and 29 years old (which represents 44.8% of cases).

Yet in spite of this, the overall alert level in the Region continues to be 1, which is low, so the regional health authorities have decided to maintain the existing covid measures as they are, only changing the situation in two municipalities; Los Alcázares, due to the major outbreak related to a night club and Mazarrón, whose high incidence is related to an outbreak in the horticultural sector ehich are both on high alert (yellow).

This basically means that the capacity of the INTERIOR areas of bars and restaurants in these two municipalities has been reduced to 30% for the NEXT WEEK, although hostelry businesses are still permitted to serve clients on their outdoor terraces to a maximum capacity of 75 per cent. Clients must remain seated and are not allowed to sit at the bar.

Bars may open until 2am in the morning, but must close between 02:00 and 06:00.

Buffets may re-open, providing utensils are cleaned every 30 minutes and a circuit established to minimise the cotact between clients.

In addition, a total of 18 municipalities are at level 2 (blue)this week. These are: Alcantarilla, Cartagena, Calasparra, Cehegín, Cieza, Jumilla, Lorca, Lorquí, Molina de Segura, Mula, Murcia, San Javier, Santomera, Torre Pacheco, Las Torres de Cotillas, Totana, La Unión and Yecla.

In these cases, the indoor capacity of bars and restaurants will be 50% and outdoor 75%.
All other municipalities are on low level (jade green) and may serve 100 per cent capacity both indoors and outdoors.

Other general measures:
In private cars the number of passengers from different households has been limited for over a year to 50 per cent of capacity, rounded up to the next whole number, meaning that in many cases no more than three people have been allowed in the same vehicle at the same time. The Health department of the regional government in Murcia has now raised that limit to 4 people from different households, although facemasks should still be worn when households mix in this way.

Specifically, the new rules state that in vehicles which can carry up to 9 people the number of people allowed is limited to 2 per row – in a normal car, two in the front and two in the back.

At the same time, the number of people allowed on trains, buses, coaches and the trams in the city of Murcia is no longer limited to 80 per cent of capacity, meaning a return to pre-pandemic levels of occupancy on public transport. Again, though, facemasks must still be worn by all passengers.
-No limit on number of people allowed to gather either at home or in public places

- Smoking is prohibited in public places when a minimum distance of two metres cannot be maintained, and is also prohibited in bars and restaurants and around hospitals or medical centres.

- Masks must be worn in any situations in which it is not possible to maintain a minimum of 1.5 metres social distancing although masks do not need to be worn in the street in general.

There is some confusion this week as the regional government has not published new graphics for this week relating to all three groups, so some publications are using old graphics which are out of date and give inaccurate information.

The situation will be reviewed next Monday and the restrictions levels remain in place until then.