Spain’s Madrid to request end of compulsory face mask on public transport

Spain’s capital city of Madrid will reportedly ask the government to eliminate the compulsory face mask on public transport, as reported on Tuesday, September 20.

Spain’s Madrid is set to make the request for the end of the compulsory face mask on public transport within the framework of the Interterritorial Council of the National Health System.

The Madrid Minister of Health, Enrique Ruiz Escudero, stated on Tuesday that he will make the request at the next meeting of the Interterritorial Council of the National Health System to be held on Wednesday, September 21.

The regional head assured that this protection measure is no longer justified because “there is no community transmission of the virus”.

In fact, Ruiz Escudero pointed out that at the moment the pandemic situation is under control: there are less than 10 patients admitted to the ICU and just over a hundred on the ward.

Ruiz Escudero also stated that the removal of masks in transport is an issue that is not on the agenda of the meeting to be held this Wednesday between the Ministry of Health and the regional ministers of health.

This could mean that the matter may be pushed back for other meetings, as reported by 20minutos.

The news follows reports that the decision by the German Federal Cabinet to extend and “to even tighten the current obligation to wear masks on planes” has met with “sheer incomprehension” by the Board of Airline Representatives in Germany (BARIG), the airline association of more than 100 national and international airlines.