On Monday, the Balearics health minister, Manuela García, said that the flu epidemic in the region is exactly the same time as it was a year ago. Based on this, she believes it is totally unnecessary to make the wearing of masks obligatory in health centres and hospitals.
She was speaking after the emergency meeting of the Interterritorial Council of the National Health System, at which regional health authorities and Spain's health ministry assessed the current situation. "They gave us a document in the middle of the meeting that no one had time to read," says García.
For now, there is no agreement as to a common approach, but Spain's health ministry has called another meeting on Wednesday. García adds that all regions, except those which have already mandated the wearing of masks, have shown a reluctance to adopt this measure.
She explains that parents have been recommendations for children returning to school safely and that vaccination - flu and Covid - will now be available without an appointment.
There is an admission that the vaccination campaign for the over-60s hasn't been that successful - only around 40%, which is in fact in line with what take-up was prior to the pandemic. Given this, the vaccination campaign for 2024/2025 will be given greater emphasis and a need for prior appointments is likely to be done away with; people will just be able to walk in, which will be the case from Wednesday this week.