Spain to introduce requirement to wear face masks outdoors

Spain, which has avoided tough epidemiological restrictions this autumn, has registered a record number of new, daily Covid-19 cases this week. It has prompted the Spanish government to announce mask wearing requirement for outdoor spaces. Sweden and Finland have also announced new restrictions, British public broadcaster BBC reports.
The rule of wearing face masks outside in the Southern European country was lifted only six months ago, but Spain saw a record 49,823 cases of new Covid-19 infections on Tuesday, December 21.
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«Parents will be able to celebrate Christmas with their children. Spain has resisted, it has not given up and it is moving forward,» Sánchez has said and told regional leaders the mask measure would be put to ministers and signed into law before Christmas. The head of government also announced an acceleration of the vaccine booster programme with greater involvement from the military.
Meanwhile, in Norther Europe, Sweden has registered a 30% jump in Covid cases in the past week. It will from December 28 join a growing number of EU countries requiring a negative test for travellers arriving there. Its Nordic neighbour, Finland has announced a similar requirement this week, BBC reports.