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ARCHIVED - Fifty fines for non-compliance hours after Covid passport is introduced in Valencia region
Police inspected 18 establishments on the Costa Blanca on Saturday night December 4
In a bid to stem a surge in new coronavirus cases in the Valencia region, a Covid passport is required to enter leisure and entertainment establishment with a capacity of more than 50 people, a measure which became mandatory for 30 days from midnight of Friday December 3.
And non-compliance could result in fines of up to 30,000 euros for hospitality and leisure venues, and up to 600 euros for individuals.
To monitor the use of the passport, teams made up of officers from the National and Local Police, together with the security unit attached to the regional government, inspected 18 premises at random on Saturday evening and the early hours of Sunday, the first night of the new anti-Covid measure.
A total of 1,784 people were identified and 404 sanctions were imposed, along with an additional 49 fines for failing to provide a Covid certificate.
The remaining fines were for not wearing the obligatory mask and possession of drugs or weapons.
But on Sunday, the Federation of Leisure, Tourism, Gaming, Recreational Activities and Related Industries of the Valencian Community (FOTUR) criticised the "disproportionate" actions carried out by the police during the early hours of Saturday night in nightclubs and entertainment venues, in some cases even "paralysing activity completely" to check compliance with security measures and the covid passport.
In addition to leisure and catering venues with a capacity of more than 50 people, a Covid passport is also required to enter recreational and gambling venues that serve food, music festivals and events and celebrations with more than 500 attendees, as well as for visits at hospitals and elderly residences.
The certificate, which must be presented together with an identification document such as a passport or ID card, must certify that the person has a complete vaccination schedule; a negative diagnostic test, PCR in the last 72 hours or antigens in the last 48 hours; or that they have recovered from the infection in the last 180 days.
"The aim is to reduce the risk of an infected person coming into contact with the uninfected and unprotected, and transmitting the infection to them," according to the Ministry of Health.
In less than six weeks the region's 14-day cumulative incidence rate has skyrocketed from 55 cases to 266 per 100,000 inhabitants, and there are currently 482 people hospitalised with Covid across the three provinces of Alicante, Valencia and Castellon.
Image: Policia Local de Valencia
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