My nose had already changed shape.
After a long relationship of almost two years, the mask will leave our daily lives in Spain.
The announcement was made this week by the Minister of Health, Carolina Darias. The measure will take effect after Holy Week.
From April 20, across the country, the use of the mask in closed spaces will be abolished. This includes schools, shopping centers and public spaces.
The exception, for now, will be public transport and contexts where there are vulnerable people, mainly hospitals, clinical centers and nursing homes – in these places, “tapabocas” will continue to be mandatory.
In the work environment, the decision whether or not to keep the mask mandatory among employees will depend on the risk management committee of each company.
It will be an apotheotic moment. Get rid of our Main Accessory since May 21, 2020. I anticipate parties and gatherings in Plaza del Sol around the bronze statue of the bear in Madrid, with people waving their masks in the air for the TV camera to film. Etc.
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‘Influenzaizing’ Covid
Not all autonomous communities are very satisfied with the measure. The governor of Andalusia, Juanma Moreno, pondered that it would be better to postpone the measure for a few months, due to the many festivities that lie ahead in the south — in addition to Holy Week, Seville’s famous April fair is coming, as well as several pilgrimages.
But the end of the mask, which will be voted on by the Council of Ministers on the 19th with an already-won mood, is the cherry of a path of no return —or so looks.
Since the Spanish government announced in January the plan to treat Covid-19 as an “endemic” after the end of the sixth wave of infections (aka, as Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said, “influenza” the said), other measures have already been taken. have been preparing us for that Nova I Know How It Will Be Exactly But Anyway Vamaê Normalidade.
For example, since the beginning of the year, children are free from the mask at recess.
In addition, for three weeks, the diagnosis of Covid is no longer a guarantee of sick leave: in the case of asymptomatic patients, the recommendation is to put on a mask and go to work, without the need for quarantine. Only the most severe symptomatic patients, as well as positive for Covid who “work in vulnerable environments”, such as doctors and nurses, will be entitled to leave.
Europe: eight countries have already abolished the mask
The new post-Friday-wave Spanish strategy is to gradually replace mandatory requirements with general recommendations, focusing on population self-regulation, a trend already followed by other neighboring countries.
So far, eight European countries have abolished the use of the mask, including France, where it is no longer mandatory from next Monday (11). Of all these, Spain is the country with the lowest cumulative incidence of cases.
The main concern in this new phase is the protection of the population at risk. Spanish government technicians advise that, for an indefinite period, immunosuppressed, pregnant women and those over 60 years of age continue to use the mask “in any situation in which there is prolonged contact with people less than 1.5 meters away and, at work, when it is not possible to maintain this separation and there is no adequate ventilation”.
The president of the Spanish Patient Organizations Platform (POP), Carina Escobar, told Europa Press that she understands the timing the end of the mask, but misses “more restrictive measures” to support the vulnerable population in this new stage. He called for more vaccines and wider access to tests for early diagnosis.
Spain currently has 92.5% of the population over 12 years of age fully vaccinated. “With the sixth wave [cujo ápice foi janeiro, pós-festas]we had an exponential growth in cases, but that didn’t translate into an impact on hospitalizations”, said Darias. “The best weapon against the virus was vaccines”.
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Come on, come on, yeah yeah, or: EPILOGUE for Novus Prologue
On the streets of Barcelona, a lot of people still choose to wear a mask, but I’m starting to see more faces. Full faces, I mean. Weird freak. Nose, that bulge of flesh with two holes. Mouth, this thing full of teeth. The breath, the dropped jaw, the heavy breathing of those going up and down stairs, calling for a taxi, asking for the bill. Sky people. The pimples, the pores, my wrinkles, that hairy mole.
But also the smiles, the voices no longer veiled, the complete expressions of yesteryear, with the unavoidable being and non-being De.Cada.Um.
Even without seeing it again, I see more. How to explain.
The other day, in the empty supermarket in the early hours, the loudspeaker was playing a song by Christina Aguilera. Hit released just before the turn of the millennium, look how many geological ages have passed, and we’re still here, buying bread at nine in the morning and listening to the sexy voice asking Come on, come on, uuuh, yeaaah.
The cashier, a gray blonde with tired, wandering eyes, sang the chorus as if she were passing cans of tomatoes, I’m a genie in a bottle, baby / Gotta rub me the right way honee-e-ee-e
hey
hey
yyyy
And so bluntly in tune was the saying that [creio, imagino, fantasio] I and the man ahead of me in line looked at each other. A glint and smirk sparkled in his eyes. In the three, six eyes. I thought: How cute is this chance meeting. Imagine when smiles can fly beyond non-woven fabrics (TNT) for medical and hospital use. Guenta heart.
