Catalonia drops Covid health pass today

The same move is undertaken by the regions of Asturias and Cantabria

Catalan health authorities decided that as of today, 28 January, the Covid health passes will no long be required for entering public indoor spaces, such as restaurants, gyms and bars. The move comes despite the fact that the Omicron wave is in full swing in Spain, although there are indications that the peak might have been already reached.

Likewise, the northern regions of Asturias and Cantabria have also decided that continuing to impose the health passes in society is not making any difference in terms of infection rates, given the high transmissibility of the latest variant.

New approach to pandemic management

The rest of the remaining 17 Spanish autonomous regions will consider the situation and decide on whether to relax their respective measures in the coming days.

The Catalan government is confident in taking this step because, despite the peak in infection rates, the hospital system has not been overloaded as the worst predictions have claimed. The stepping back from restrictions in the northeastern region, in fact, began already last week when the night-time curfew (between 1 am and 6 am) was dropped.

The Omicron variant, which has seen infection rates soar in Catalonia, means “a large part of the population is once again susceptible to getting infected whether or not they are vaccinated or have already had the illness,” a committee of experts told the regional government, as quoted by The Local.

“The effectiveness of the compulsory use of the Covid certificate is reduced as an extra level of security,” it said, prompting the decision which was published in Thursday’s regional government bulletin.

The requirement to show a Covid passport, which had been in place since late November, will be dropped from today in this region of 7.7 million inhabitants.

Still, the de-escalation is not full, since nightclubs will remain closed for the time being, despite criticism on part of their owners that this has caused them to incur heavy financial losses.