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ARCHIVED - Totana bars and restaurants fear ruin as confinement measures begin
The BORM has published the conditions of what the regional Health Ministry is calling “mobility restrictions”
Video; Paco Candela Ayuntamiento de Totana
Bar and restaurant owners have been out in the streets of Totana protesting at what they see as the almost certain ruin of their businesses following the decision of the Murcia Regional Health Authority to confine the municipality following an outbreak linked to the Pub Dubai.
There are now 55 cases related to this one location, 44 of them diagnosed in the last 24 hours.
The confinement has been published in the regional BORM and is effective from the moment of publication.
The conditions are almost the same as they were during phase one of the de-escalation process with just very slight modifications.
Click to see original text
As anticipated the measures are broadly;
- movement in or out of Totana is not permitted and journeys may only be made for essential reasons including medical appointments or medical -related issues,return to habitual residence, to care for the elderly, disabled or those with special needs, for work or for essential reasons.
- those inside the municipality may move around freely within the affected area, although non-essential movements are not recommended
- Gatherings are limited to 10 people
- Restaurants and bars are only permitted to open external terrace areas to a maximum of 50% capacity, may not open internal spaces and must close by midnight, with last entry at 23.30.
- Shops under 400 square metres are the only ones permitted to open to full capacity, the remainder may only admit 30% of their capacity
- Visits to the elderly or those in at risk groups is not permitted
- Residents are not confined to their homes but may not leave the municipality
The health centres have been closed and put on a code red alert level, which means that they are not open for general surgery, only to attend to Covid cases and any urgent health needs.
The centros de día for the elderly have been closed and restrictions placed on visits to the residencias for the elderly.
Confinement ratified for at least seven days
The mobility restrictions have to be ratified by a court. A confinement of the population can only be undertaken via the mechanism of the state of emergency and although the national government expressed a willingness last week to declare a localised state of emergency should it become necessary, the approval of the courts must be sought in order to justify a restriction of movement order.
This was done on Thursday evening and the acting judge in court number 3 of the Murcia court of instruction ratified the request of the health authority to contain the population due to the public health risk. The measures will be reviewed after one week.
The Ministry of Health is uncomfortable with the implications of the words lockdown or confinement, and have said that in Totana, "people are not prohibited from leaving their home: they are advised not to go out", so the measures applied today "are not a confinement".
They are instead “measures restricting freedom of movement.”
Bars and restaurants worst affected
One of the worst affected sectors of the crisis is undoubtedly the hostelry sector, which depends on a large volume of clients, each spending a small amount of money, normally during prolonged opening hours.
Totana was actually the last municipality to leave the de-escalation of the state of emergency due to an outbreak amongst the agricultual sector of the municipality which put it a week behind the remainder of the region, so local businesses have had less time than other municipalities to start recouping some of the losses racked up during the first lockdown when they were forced to close altogether.
Many businesses are struggling to survive the Covid crisis and these latest measures will do little to help Totana businesses recover; the hostelry sector protested in front of the town hall holding placards announcing “for sale”, as the Mayor spoke to them about the health authority.
Mayor fears racial backlash
The Mayor is resigned to the inevitable that the municipality must go through a painful few days in order to contain the virus, one of his biggest concerns being that the current situation could lead to racial tension or bad feelings towards the 3,500 Latin-Anerican residents of the municipality.
In an interview published with La Verdad this evening he explained that the pub related to the outbreak is well-known amongst the local population and within the town hall as a problematic venue, frequently the subject of complaints about noise and rowdy behaviour. He believes that the original point of contagion was a DJ who had played a set in Atalalayas before continuing in the Pub Dubai in Totana and had brought the virus to the municipality.
Two out of three cases across the whole of the region at the moment is within the Latin-American community. Read more here.
Hostemur warns of holiday cancellations
The regional hostelry association Hostemur said on Thursday that more help should be given to the hostelry sector, "At the moment the objective is to save businesses. The pandemia won´t be over in September, or by Christmas, it's going to remain amongst us and we have to find ways of living with it."
Jesús Jiménez,president of Hostemur, said that during the last few days the association had seen "an important number of cancellations of accommodation on the coast of the region, " and criticised the abrupt measures which have forced the closure of discos and leisure areas, and the early closure of pubs and bars, all of which was hitting the hostelry sector harder than other sectors.