Procicat, the Catalan civil protection committee, is proposing that from this Thursday, June 18th, the health regions of Barcelona and Lleida will move to Phase 3 of the coronavirus de-escalation process, joining the other regions of Catalonia which are already in Phase 3.
The decision to allow a territory to progress from one phase to another involves a conjunction of factors. In the case of the two Catalan regions, the Barcelona metropolitan area and the Lleida health region, the epidemiological risk factors are continuing to trend downwards: that is,essentially, the incidence of new cases and the effective reproductive rate or "R" ratio. As well, the increase in capacity at primary care level to diagnose and monitor cases, through the provision of PCR tests, is also a factor in favour of making this new phase movement.
The proposal, recommended by the Catalan health ministry, will be discussed at a meeting between Spanish and Catalan health authorities on Wednesday. The Spanish ministry under Salvador Illa is responsible for allowing changes of phase from Phase 2 to 3 until Spain's state of alarm ends on Saturday night.
GUIDE | Coronavirus de-escalation: which phase am I in and what can I do?
MAP | Coronavirus infections in Catalonia by municipalities and neighborhoods
GRAPHS & DATA | Latest coronavirus statistics for Catalonia and Spain