An association asks the National Court to suspend the mandatory use of the mask in transport

Health announced that it will take this suspension to the Council of Ministers on February 7 given the current epidemiological situation

MADRID, 1 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Liberum Association has submitted a brief to the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the National Court so that "the immediate suspension" of the mandatory use of the mask on public transport is urgently agreed without having to wait for the decree of the Government that has been announced for next week.

In a letter, to which Europa Press has had access, this association --which says it was created with the purpose of restoring the rights and freedoms that were usurped during the Covid-19 pandemic-- points out that the circumstances of special urgency for the Chamber to accept without listening to the other parties, a very precautionary measure, the withdrawal "immediately" of the mandatory use of the mask.

They rely for this petition on statements by the Minister of Health, Carolina Darias, who assured that "in Spain there is a stable situation with the pandemic as shown by the epidemiological indicators" and that therefore she was going to raise "the proposal for the elimination of masks on public transport at the next Council of Ministers on February 7".

For this reason, from Liberum they indicate that "the immediate suspension of the aforementioned measure must be agreed, since otherwise, it would lose the legitimate purpose of the appeal presented by this party, causing damage of impossible repair to the fundamental rights of the appellants and to the public interests".

The appeal to which he refers, to which Europa Press has also had access, was presented in November, and in it they pointed out that the decision to maintain the use of the mask was contrary to the law because the Government was acting "in fact "and" apart from any act of legal-administrative coverage. Especially when, they understood, the current epidemiological situation "has improved according to the system of indicators agreed upon in the Interterritorial Council of the National Health System."

In that appeal, they already asked the National Court to provisionally suspend this obligation to wear a mask until it was resolved on the merits of the procedure, and they asked that Health be requested to provide the reports of the experts of the Interterritorial System alert report of Health of April 20, 2022, and the minutes of the meeting of the Public Health Commission of that same day.

In it, they stated that the measure endangered "the good that it is intended to protect, that is, the protection of health" because if that was the purpose of Health, it is not understood that it is required in public transport "and it does not in supermarkets, malls and other establishments where people are close to each other".

The Eighth Section of the Contentious Chamber agreed by decree on January 10 to give the Ministry of Health, whose legal representation is the State Attorney, 20 days to send it the file referred to in Liberum's appeal.

The Minister of Health, Carolina Darias, announced on January 26 that the Council of Ministers on February 7 will approve the withdrawal of the mandatory nature of masks on public transport, but it will remain in all health centers.

In statements to the media after the presentation of the PASOS study by the Gasol Foundation, the minister justified that this decision is made because Spain has "an epidemiological situation" of the COVID-19 pandemic "very stable in all indicators".

According to the minister, this has caused the experts that make up the Alert Report to decide that this is the right time to eliminate masks on public transport.

However, its use will continue to be mandatory, also on the recommendation of experts, in health centers, health services, health establishments (such as pharmacies) and social health centers for visitors and workers.

From the association, in the letter that has emerged this Wednesday, they point out that after what Darias said, the use of the mask must be withdrawn immediately "without further delay" "since this restrictive measure of rights in public transport is in force without any justification, in addition to being imposed by way of fact" there is a lack of appearance of good law --'fumus bonis iuris'-- and it would be causing "damage that is very difficult to repair".

In this sense, they provide an infographic created by 'Domo Acción Galicia' in which "scientific and medical studies appear that support the harm of the use of masks for the population and especially children", and a German study that "talks about the possible damage of various types that can be caused by the use of masks".

They also add the study by a doctor of Chemical Sciences, Sergio Javier Pérez Olivero, who says that the use of the mask can generate "hypoxemia, hypercapnia, myocardial ischemia, serious arrhythmias, suffocation as well as a wide range of physical and psychological damage for citizens".