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Spanish ministry of health Salvador Illa has clamped down on the Catalan government's apparent willingness to make decisions that aren't within its power. The Catalan executive announced this Friday that it intends to allow children to go outside - under conditions of extreme vigilance - as soon as possible. In fact, Catalan minister Alba Vergés outlined the proposal today, allowing strictly-controlled outings on the street for children many of whom have been prohibited from going out their front doors under any circumstances for close to five weeks. Shortly afterwards, at a central government press conference in Madrid, Salvador Illa reminded the Catalan authorities that because of Spain's state of alarm, Catalonia has lost the power to make this decision.

"Within the framework of the state of alarm decree, these decisions are made by the government of Spain," said Illa. On March 14th, prime minister Pedro Sánchez recentralized all powers in order to conduct the fight against coronavirus from a single command. This situation will be in effect until at least April 26th and most likely for the first half of May as well.

"We will act with caution and prudence," said Illa, who is Catalan himself. The Spanish government called on its autonomous communities to submit their proposals on how they think the country's lockdown should be gradually lifted. The minister guaranteed that the powers in Madrid will listen to everyone and study all approaches, but warned that the last word will always be with the central government. Other communities such as the Basque Country are also pushing for children to be allowed more latitude in activities outside the house.

The rigor of the data counts

During the health minister's appearance before the press, questions about the confusion of Spain's coronavirus figures were a constant. On Thursday night, the Spanish government notified the regional powers that it was changing the criteria for its Covid-19 data gathering. The new ministerial order demands more comprehensive information, and allows Covid-19 deaths outside hospitals to also be included in the total, as long as the deceased had previously been tested.

This change has caused significant distortion in the figures, with totals that are no longer compatible with the data reported so far. However, Illa made it clear that "in terms of data quality, we are very rigorous" and that the Spanish government follows WHO criteria strictly.