Ministry Of Health Proposes ‘Traffic Light’ System For Covid Incidence Rate

MINISTRY of Health proposes an updated ‘traffic light’ system for measures relating to the Covid incidence rate.

Members of the Spanish government are reportedly meeting on Thursday, March 25 to discuss the implementation of an updated ‘traffic light’ system which would see autonomous communities required to implement stricter control measures if the accumulated incidence rate of coronavirus surpasses 150 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. The new document intends to class an incidence rate of 150-200 cases over a 14 day period as a ‘high’ alter level, and more than 250 as ‘very high.’

The new version of the regulations suggests the “suppression of the service in interior areas of establishments” of the hospitality sector for areas in the ‘high’ category, as well as limiting the number of non-cohabitants who can meet socially to six, according to Spanish daily El Mundo. While most autonomous communities currently follow these safety measures anyway, the existing guidelines do not officially lay out measures relating to different risk levels.

The objective of the proposal, which is being discussed in light of a week of increased numbers, aims: “To establish alert levels that determine actions proportional to the level of risk of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and adaptable according to the situation and context of each territory.”

Furthermore, these actions are intended to guarantee coordination between regions “without obstructing, in any case, the autonomous communities to take the complementary measures that they consider appropriate,” the document explains.

According to the European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC), risk levels begin to increase when the 14 day cumulative incidence hits 25 cases per 100,000 inhabitants; thus, in Spain, “we have established the interval 150-250 as a high risk and we have established an additional threshold, incidence greater than 250 per 100,000, to indicate very high risk situations in which additional actions are required, if those implemented with incidents of more than 150 fail to control the transmission.”

Don’t forget to check back later when full details of the meeting and the agreed measures will be available.

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