MADRID, July 28 (Xinhua) -- The Autonomous Community of Madrid on Tuesday became the last region in mainland Spain to confirm that wearing a face mask will be mandatory in all open and closed spaces regardless of whether safe social distancing is or can be practiced.
The decision was confirmed by the regional leader, Isabel Diaz Ayuso, at a press conference where she confirmed that other measures will also be introduced to try and contain the virus.
The Canary Islands are now the only one of Spain's communities to not insist on the use of face masks in all circumstances.
The Spanish Health Ministry on Monday said that 1,278 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in the Community of Madrid last week. The new measures aimed at containing the virus include limits on the number of people allowed to meet and on the opening times of late-night bars and discos.
Under the new rules, no more than 10 people will be allowed to meet at a time, and terraces, bars and other catering establishments will have to close by 01:30 in the morning and will not be able to accept new clients after 01:00 a.m.
Customers will also have to provide their contact details in order to make it easier to trace them if a COVID-19 case is subsequently linked to the establishment. The number of people tasked with tracking and tracing possible infections will be doubled from 182 to 360.
Ayuso also said that the region would introduce a "COVID-19 card" so that people who have had the coronavirus will be able "to avoid confinement" and "continue their normal life," although it is still not certain how much protection antibodies can provide from the virus or how long they remain in a person's system after they have recovered.
Almost 13,000 new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Spain over the past seven days, prompting the United Kingdom to reintroduce a 14-day quarantine for visitors returning from Spain. Enditem
