COVID-19 prevention measures once the state of alarm ends

Automatic summary, not yet reviewed

1. It sets a general duty of caution: everyone must take measures to avoid generating risks of spreading COVID-19, and so must the owners of the activities regulated by the law.
2. It requires face masks from age six on public roads, in enclosed public spaces and on transport, when a distance of 1.5 meters cannot be kept. Not wearing one is a minor offense punishable with a fine of up to one hundred euros.
3. Companies must clean and ventilate workplaces, provide workers with soap and water or disinfectant gels, arrange workstations and shifts to keep a safe distance, and promote remote work. Anyone with symptoms or in quarantine must not go to work.
4. Stores, hotels, bars, schools, care homes, sports facilities and other establishments must follow rules on capacity limits, cleaning and prevention, and keep 1.5 meters of distance between customers and workers.
5. Transport operators with assigned seats must keep passengers' contact details for at least four weeks and hand them to health authorities to trace contacts.
6. COVID-19 becomes an urgently notifiable disease: public administrations, health centers and laboratories must give health authorities the data needed for epidemiological surveillance, with personal data protection safeguards.
7. It guarantees the supply of essential medicines and makes it easier to manufacture surgical masks, surgical gowns, hydroalcoholic gels and antiseptics, including the use of bioethanol to make hand gels.
8. Other measures: state guarantees of up to €2,817,500,000 for loans by the European Investment Bank to small businesses and the self-employed, meetings of company and association governing bodies by videoconference until December 31, 2020, and consumers' right to cancel contracts that cannot be performed because of lockdown lifting measures.

Who it affects

• The general public: Must take precautionary measures and wear a mask where required, with a fine of up to one hundred euros for not doing so.
• Businesses and establishment owners: Must organize workstations, capacity limits and cleaning to keep a safe distance and prevent infections.
• Workers: Must not go to work if they have symptoms, are isolating or in quarantine.
• Travelers: Their contact details are kept for four weeks to trace possible infections.
• Consumers: Can cancel without penalty contracts that cannot be performed because of lockdown lifting measures, and travel vouchers require their prior acceptance.

Words worth knowing

Estado de alarma (state of alarm)

Exceptional measure that allows the Government to limit rights, such as free movement, during serious crises. Extending it requires Congress's authorization.

Trazabilidad de contactos (contact tracing)

Identifying people who have been in contact with a COVID-19 case to warn them and stop the spread.

Vigilancia epidemiológica (epidemiological surveillance)

Collecting and analyzing disease data to detect outbreaks and decide on health measures.

Real decreto-ley (royal decree-law)

A rule with the force of law that the Government can approve immediately in situations of extraordinary and urgent need.

Marcado CE (CE marking)

A label showing a product meets European safety requirements. The law exceptionally allows medical devices without it.

It summarizes the law as published in the BOE. It is written by artificial intelligence and may contain mistakes: the official text is what counts. Read the official text · How we make summaries