Masks will once again be mandatory in Spain’s hospitals and health centers from this Wednesday due to an increase in respiratory infections.

(CNN Spanish) — Spain’s government will reintroduce the mandatory use of masks in hospitals and health centers starting this Wednesday, Minister of Education, Vocational Training and Sports and Spanish government spokesman Pilar Alegría reported on Tuesday. By July 5, 2023, its use in these spaces is no longer required.

With this move, the Spanish executive intends to stop the current rise in infections that the country is suffering from flu, Covid-19 and respiratory syncytial virus – “Triple” And it is felt, especially in the emergency services of many health centers. “If what we want is to bring back normality in our hospitals, in our health centers, in our primary care centers, to avoid stress and collapse, decisions must be made,” Alegria justified at the end of the weekly ministerial conference.

The Minister of Health, Mónica García, this Monday notified the health advisors of the different regions of the country about the need to revise the measure, although there was no consensus on the matter. For this reason, he offered a period of forty-eight hours – which ends this Wednesday – so that regional representatives can present allegations and contributions to this government proposal.

Some autonomous communities, such as Madrid, criticized the initiative. “Making masks mandatory now shows improvement,” the region’s president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, remarked in a tweet shared through her official X profile. Imposing for the sake of imposing, a tool of a weak manager,” he added.

However, due to this increase in infections, at least six autonomous communities have decided to make its use mandatory in health centers until this Tuesday. In particular, these are: Canary Islands, Catalonia, Aragon, Valencia, Murcia and Asturias.