News
The people’s paper ISSUE NO. 1837
17 - 23 Sept 2020
MALLORCA • WWW.EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM
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THE Balearic government is set to continue imposing new restrictions to contain a second wave of Covid-19, regional president Francina Armengol has made crystal clear. “ We are talking about difficult decisions, which nobody likes and which demand sacrifices by residents, businesses and workers,” Armengol said in her address to the Balearic Island parliament on Tuesday to report on the current pandemic situation on the archipelago and the health and economic consequences. “But we also know that they produce results and will mean that we stop the virus earlier and will return to nor mality more quickly,” she added. Tr u e t o h e r w o r d o n her administration’s commitment to implementing the measures they believe necessary, Armengol announced that tighter restrictions will come into force in the Arquitecte Bennasar avenue area of Palma this Friday, as well as in the two areas of Ibiza worst affected by Covid-19: Sant Antoni and Vila. The measures will be in line with those which the regional govern-
CREDIT: Govern Iles Balears Noticias
DIFFICULT DECISIONS
NECESSARY EVIL: “We are talking about difficult decisions, which nobody likes and which demand sacrifices by residents, businesses and workers,” Armengol told the regional parliament. ment introduced for four neighbourhoods in Palma last Friday, September 11 for a period of 15 days, affecting some 23,000 residents. They include restricting people from moving outside their area without a justified reason, like getting to work, school or a medical appointment, and limiting family and social gatherings to a maximum of five people. Armengol insisted
that there is a major difference between the current second wave of the virus and the situation the islands experienced during the first wave. “Now we are more p r e p a r e d . To d a y o u r health professionals know the illness better and how to treat it,” she told the regional parliament members. She also made the point that “we are now carrying out many more PCR tests, and it
is Health which looks for and finds many positive cases through tracing systems, which detect, from the total, 53 per cent of asymptomatic cases.” The regional government has 240 tracers,
plus a further 100 made available by the army. The behaviour of the public also explains the differences between the first and second waves, according to Armengol.
“Residents are showing once again that they know how to rise to the challenge, that they know to respond responsibly and face the virus by complying with the restrictions and protection measures,” she commented. To illustrate her point she highlighted an improvement in the health statistics in the previous few days, which reflect a levelling out in the new infection curve. Perseverance is crucial, she stressed. “This virus does not allow for relaxation, but nor does it allow for division; it forces us to act in full coordination,” she said, insisting that all decisions had been taken on the basis of dialogue between administrations, political groups and social and economic agents. “ We a r e c l e a r t h a t the fight against Covid-19 is not only a question for the Health department or for the regional gover nment. It is everyone’s responsibility.”