The President of Spain, Pedro Sanchez, has outlined the various stages of the de-escalation in Spain. The de-escalation which consists of four stages, with each phase lasting a minimum of two weeks. The plan which Mr Sanchez called “The Plan Towards A New Normality” will be applied gradually and asymmetrically by province or island. The sole objective of this plan is to reactivate Spain while protecting the health and lives of the population.

Stage Zero This stage is the preparation for the de-escalation and some business places will be allowed to open to attend to clients who have reservations or appointments. This phase has already started but officially from May 4th all provinces will enter this stage except for La Gomera, Hierro, La Garciosa and Formentera as these islands will start directly on stage one. Restaurant businesses will be allowed to provide a takeaway service. People will be allowed to move between local towns where there is a low incidence of the outbreak. Use of masks are highly recommended.

Stage One Small shops and businesses will be allowed to open to the public as long as they adhere to strict safety measures. Shopping centres are excluded in this stage. Hotels and touristic apartments will be allowed to reopen but the communal areas must remain closed. Over 65’s will have a special timetable to protect them more. The school year will start in September. Religious sites such as churches will be allowed to open with a maximum of 30% of their capacity. Parts of the fishing industry which have been closed will be allowed to return to work. Use of masks are highly recommended.

Stage Two Hotels and restaurants will be allowed to open to clients so they can dine inside but may not exceed 30% of their capacity. Schools would be allowed to open to allow parents with children under 6 the possibility to return to work and also students can complete exams to access university. Sport fishing and hunting can recommence, and cinemas theatres and auditoriums can reopen but may not exceed 30% of their capacity. Cultural events held inside must have 50 people or less in attendance while open air events will have a limit of 400 people. Use of masks are highly recommended.

Stage Three Restrictions on mobility will be eased. All businesses will be allowed to open with only 50% capacity allowed on the premises. Bars and restaurants will have restrictions eased as long as they adhere to strict safety measures. (The president didn’t give exact capacity percentages here but I expect it will be published later). Use of masks are highly recommended.

These stages of de-escalation will bring us to the end of June and that is considering that all stages are adhered to and we have no new outbreaks. Mr Sanchez said that he expects the de-escalation to last between 6-8 weeks and each province would advance as fast as the conditions allow.

It will be the Health authorities who decide exactly when each province can move to the next stage based on these four principles:

1. The capacity of the health system to deal with the situation in that province.
2. The epidemiological situation in that province.
3. The protective measures in place withing that province
4. Mobility and socioeconomic data from that province.

There has been a total of 1,308 new cases declared today and the total confirmed cases is 210,773. The number of deaths has now reached 23,822. The number of people who have recovered is 102,548

Meanwhile in Andalusia there are 13,250 confirmed cases of which 5,793 have needed hospitalisation and 721 have needed intensive care. As of 21.00 yesterday there are 804 patients confirmed with Covid-19 in hospital and 183 of those are in intensive care.

In Andalusia with 5,039 patients recovered, the hospitals are as follows please note that the total of patients hospitalised includes those in intensive care

Province	Total Hospitalised	Total in Intensive care
Almeria	32	10
Cadiz	113	23
Cordoba	53	18
Granada	192	34
Huelva	31	9
Jaen	79	20
Malaga	145	32
Seville	159	37

 

There have been 1,168 deaths in Andalusia (Malaga 250, Jaen 155, Granada 234, Cordoba 96, Cadiz 107, Seville 239, Almeria 47, Huelva 40). In Seville there are 2,575 cases and 1,117 of those required hospitalization with 145 in intensive care. There have been 239 deaths while 749 have recovered.

In Huelva there are 420 cases, this being an increase of 5 new cases today, 214 have been hospitalized with 30 in intensive care. No new deaths were reported today so total stays at 40. The good news is 154 have now recovered from the virus.