Bascardi will lift mask mandate if flu rates drop again today

As it does every Wednesday, the Basque Ministry of Health will publish early this afternoon the Basque Government’s weekly Acute Respiratory Infection Surveillance Report, which captures the incidence of respiratory illnesses including influenza infections, COVID-19 and other pulmonary diseases. disease. Minister Gozzone Sagaduy announced yesterday at a press conference after the Government Council that the Basque Country will abolish the wearing of masks in health centers, outpatient clinics and Basque hospitals if documents again show a decrease in the incidence of these diseases. Obligation, according to an order from the Ministry of Health, which stipulates that the mandatory use of mouth and nose protectors can be lifted if the virus in the community shows a downward trend for 14 consecutive days.

“In line with the provisions of the ministerial order, we will remove the mandatory nature of wearing masks and will maintain the recommendations for the use of protective coverings and other infectious disease prevention measures, such as frequent hand washing, as we have been doing since early September,” the adviser said yesterday. In any case, she insists on waiting for information to be released by her ministry this afternoon to check whether the incidence rate in the Basque country has dropped for two weeks in a row.