Royal Decree 926/2020 of 25 October declaring a state of alarm to contain the spread of infections caused by SARS-CoV-2

OFFICIAL STATE GAZETTE
No. 282 Sunday, October 25, 2020 Sec. I. Page 91912
I. GENERAL PROVISIONS
MINISTRY OF THE PRESIDENCY,
RELATIONS WITH THE CORTES AND DEMOCRATIC MEMORY 12898 Royal Decree 926/2020, of October 25, declaring a state of alarm to contain the spread of infections caused by SARS-CoV-2.
I
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization elevated the public health emergency caused by COVID-19 to an international pandemic.
To address the health crisis in our country at that time, it was necessary to adopt immediate measures that proved effective in controlling the spread of the disease. In this regard, Royal Decree 463/2020, of March 14, allowed us to face the health emergency situation and protect the health and safety of citizens.
After the de-escalation process and the end of the validity of the state of alarm, the country entered a stage of new normality, during which public authorities and health authorities continued to take measures aimed at controlling outbreaks and halting infections. Among them, Royal Decree-Law 21/2020, of June 9, on urgent measures for prevention, containment and coordination to face the health crisis caused by COVID-19, the early response plan in a scenario of pandemic control, the declarations of coordinated actions in public health agreed upon within the Interterritorial Council of the National Health System, or the different provisions and acts adopted by the competent authorities of the autonomous communities and cities with Statute of Autonomy. This set of measures, aimed at preventing risk situations, intensifying the capacities for monitoring and surveillance of the epidemic, and reinforcing assistance and public health services, has allowed us so far to offer appropriate and proportional responses depending on the different stages of evolution of the epidemic wave in each territory. II However, at the present moment in Spain, as in most European countries, an upward trend in the number of cases is recorded. This increase has resulted in a significant rise in the Cumulative Incidence over fourteen days, reaching, as of October 22, 349 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, well above the 60 cases per 100,000 inhabitants threshold marking high risk according to the criteria of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. The current incidences place the entire territory, except the Canary Islands, at a high or very high risk level according to international standards and national standards established in the document on Coordinated Response Actions for the Control of COVID-19 Transmission, approved in the plenary session of the Interterritorial Council of the National Health System on October 22, 2020. This increase in transmission is affecting risk population groups, who have a higher probability of hospitalization and death. Currently, the average occupancy in Spain of hospital beds for COVID-19 already exceeds 12%, with maxima above 20% in some autonomous communities. The average occupancy of Intensive Care Unit beds is 22.48%, exceeding 60% in some cases. This situation once again strains our healthcare system, requiring the urgent adoption of control measures to avoid any negative impact of this situation on healthcare for pathologies other than COVID-19, preventing from the outset any risk of potential collapse of the assistance system. In this context, with very worrying levels of the main epidemiological and assistance indicators, different transmission control measures must be considered that allow reducing current incidences, reversing the upward trend, and avoiding reaching the overload level experienced by the healthcare system during the first wave of the pandemic. In the absence of a vaccine for COVID-19,
non-pharmacological public health measures proposed by international organizations must be taken, with the purpose of reducing the infection rate in the population and, therefore, reducing virus transmission. The effectiveness of any isolated intervention may be limited, requiring the combination of several interventions to have a significant impact on transmission. Among the non-pharmacological interventions established by international organizations, some measures stand out aimed at avoiding the gathering of people without cohabitation relationships and maintaining distance between them, as well as reducing the mobility of populations, as this significantly favors the circulation of the SARS-CoV-2 virus among different territories. There is evidence that social contact, in both open and closed spaces where due distancing and prevention measures are not maintained, entails a high risk of virus transmission. In this sense, the experience of previous months confirms how the adoption of restrictive measures in certain establishments and activities has a direct impact on the drastic reduction of epidemic outbreaks and associated cases linked to such contexts. However, regarding the main current infection foci, the study of outbreaks reported by the autonomous communities reveals that family and social gatherings, whether in the private or public sphere, are the main environment where case clusters occur, accounting for almost a third of outbreaks and involving more than a quarter of cases. In this line, limiting the size of groups in public and private places and reducing contact between non-cohabitants are part of the set of social and public health measures of the World Health Organization's comprehensive strategy to contribute to stopping chains of person-to-person transmission and outbreak control. These proposals are also collected by other reference international Public Health agencies, such as the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). In this sense, measures such as limiting the number of non-cohabitants, maintaining relationships in social bubbles structured in stable and permanent cohabitation groups, and staying at home, avoiding displacements that are not considered essential, are considered effective and appropriate. The limitation of the maximum number of people in the same space has been applied in several autonomous communities and in different countries in our vicinity with positive results from an epidemiological point of view. Different studies, such as those carried out by the ECDC, have shown that the acceptance and compliance with preventive measures varies between countries, between regions of the same country, between different population groups in the same environment, and even among the different social experiences of people, one of which is nightlife, where a significant relaxation in compliance with measures stipulated to avoid the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 has been observed. In this sense, a large
part of the high-risk encounters occur at night, according to information provided by the autonomous communities, which substantially reduces the effectiveness of other control measures implemented. For this reason, the restriction of nighttime mobility is considered a proportionate measure with a potential positive impact on transmission control, as it avoids risk contact situations linked to social gatherings. OFFICIAL STATE GAZETTE No. 282 Sunday, October 25, 2020 Sec. I. Page 91913 cve: BOE-A-2020-12898 Verifiable at https://www.boe.es

The current epidemiological indicators place almost the entire national territory at a high or very high risk level according to national and international standards, except the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands. This community presents a favorable evolution of the epidemic with epidemiological indicators that place it at medium risk levels, well below the rest of the national territory. Therefore, measures aimed at restricting nighttime mobility would not be necessary at this moment to maintain control of the epidemic in said territory, provided that the maintenance of currently valid transmission control measures is guaranteed, and without prejudice to their possible adoption later in case of unfavorable evolution, which is by no means descartable during the validity period of this royal decree, given the instability of the epidemic's behavior, both nationally and internationally. Likewise, it has been observed that the movement of people from territorial units with high incidence to those with lower incidence represents a very high risk of geographical diffusion of SARS-CoV-2 transmission. This observed incidence, in addition to not being homogeneous among the autonomous communities, is also not homogeneous within the territory of each of them. In this line, during the last months, measures restricting mobility in certain territorial scopes have been articulated, which at the time were associated with an improvement in transmission control indicators in their area of application. Similar measures were observed useful in other phases of the epidemic. III In this framework, the measures provided for in this regulation fall within the Government's decided action to protect the health and safety of citizens, contain the progression of the disease, and reinforce healthcare and social care systems. The temporary extraordinary measures already adopted by all levels of government must now be intensified without delay in view of the evolution of the epidemic to prevent and contain infections and mitigate the health, social, and economic impact. It is therefore necessary to offer an immediate, adjusted, and proportional response, in a framework of co-governance, that allows facing the seriousness of the situation with the maximum constitutional guarantees during a period that necessarily must be longer than the fifteen-day term established for the validity of this royal decree, so it will be essential to extend this regulation for an estimated period of six months. The royal decree establishes, for these extension cases, that the Minister of Health will appear biweekly before the Health and Consumption Commission of the Congress of Deputies to report on the application of the measures; information that in their respective territorial scopes should be provided by the competent authorities delegated to the corresponding autonomous assemblies, under the terms and conditions determined by them. In any case, during the validity of the state of
alarm, the competent health administrations in public health, in matters not provided for in this regulation, must continue to adopt the necessary measures to face the public health emergency caused by COVID-19, in accordance with health legislation, in particular, Organic Law 3/1986, of April 14, on Special Measures in Matters of Public Health, Law 14/1986, of April 25, General Health Law, and Law 33/2011, of October 4, General Public Health Law, as well as in the corresponding autonomous regulations. However, in an epidemiological situation like the current one, it is essential to combine the measures provided for in health legislation with others from the realm of Exception Law, as provided for in articles 116.2 of the Spanish Constitution and fourth and following of Organic Law 4/1981, of June 1, on states of alarm, exception, and siege. It should be noted that paragraph b) of article four of Organic Law 4/1981, of June 1, empowers the Government to, in the exercise of the faculties attributed to it by article 116.2 of the Constitution, declare a state of alarm in all or part of the national territory when sanitary crises, such as epidemics, occur, which is the case in the present situation. Likewise, article eleven of Organic Law 4/1981, of June 1, in paragraph a), provides for the possibility that the decree declaring the state of alarm agrees on the limitation of the circulation or stay of people or vehicles at specific hours and places, as well as conditioning it to the fulfillment of certain requirements. Additionally, paragraph b) provides for the possibility of establishing mandatory personal services. Therefore, this royal decree contemplates measures of diverse nature to face the expansion of the virus. Its usefulness in this regard has been proven during these last months, as reflected, moreover, by the fact that countries in our vicinity resort to them systematically, in accordance with what is stated by the World Health Organization and other international organizations. First, with exceptions, the limitation of the free circulation of people at night is established, in order to avoid as much as possible the expansion of the infection during that period of time, given that in that time frame many of the infections have occurred in recent weeks, as exposed above. Likewise, the possibility of limiting the entry and exit of territories of the autonomous communities and cities with Statute of Autonomy, as well as of territorial scopes of a geographically lower nature, with certain exceptions, is established, with the purpose of substantially reducing the mobility of the virus. Likewise, the possibility of limiting the stay of groups of people in public and private spaces is established. Thus, the significant reduction of social mobility is sought, and therefore the expansion of the epidemic is intended to be halted. Both the limitations on the stay of groups of people, as well as those referring to the entry and exit of territories,
will be effective in the territory of each autonomous community or city with Statute of Autonomy when the respective delegated competent authority determines it, which may also modulate, flex, and suspend the application of these measures. Finally, the possibility is foreseen that autonomous communities may impose the performance of mandatory personal services within the scope of their healthcare and social care systems, provided that this is essential to respond to the health emergency situation. To face this serious and exceptional situation, it is indispensable to proceed to the declaration of a state of alarm. The measures contained in this royal decree are essential to face the situation, are proportional to the extreme seriousness thereof, and do not involve the suspension of any fundamental right, as provided for in article 55 of the Constitution. In virtue thereof, on the proposal of the First Vice President of the Government and Minister of the Presidency, Relations with the Cortes and Democratic Memory, and the Minister of Health, in agreement with the Council of State and after deliberation by the Council of Ministers in its meeting on October 25, 2020, I HEREBY ORDER:
Article 1. Declaration of the state of alarm.
Under the provisions of article four, paragraph b), of Organic Law 4/1981, of June 1, on states of alarm, exception, and siege, a state of alarm is declared with the aim of containing the spread of infections caused by SARS-CoV-2.
Article 2. Competent Authority.

1. For the purposes of the state of alarm, the competent authority shall be the Government of the Nation.
   cve: BOE-A-2020-12898
   Verifiable at https://www.boe.es

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2. In each autonomous community and city with Statute of Autonomy, the delegated competent authority shall be the one holding the presidency of the autonomous community or city with Statute of Autonomy, under the terms established in this royal decree.
3. The delegated competent authorities are empowered to issue, by delegation of the Government of the Nation, orders, resolutions, and provisions for the application of what is provided for in articles 5 to 11. For this purpose, no administrative procedure processing shall be required, nor shall the provisions of the second paragraph of article 8.6 and article 10.8 of Law 29/1998, of July 13, regulating the Contentious-Administrative Jurisdiction, apply.
Article 3. Territorial Scope.
The declaration of the state of alarm affects the entire national territory.
Article 4. Duration.
The state of alarm declared by this royal decree shall end at 00:00 hours on November 9, 2020, without prejudice to extensions that may be established.
Article 5. Limitation of the freedom of circulation of people at night.

1. During the period between 23:00 and 6:00 hours, people may only circulate through public use roads or spaces for the following activities:
   a) Acquisition of medicines, sanitary products, and other first-need goods. b) Attendance at health centers, services, and establishments. c) Attendance at veterinary care centers for urgent reasons. d) Fulfillment of labor, professional, business, institutional, or legal obligations. e) Return to the place of habitual residence after carrying out some of the activities provided for in this paragraph. f) Assistance and care for the elderly, minors, dependents, people with disabilities, or especially vulnerable persons. g) Force majeure or situation of necessity. h) Any other activity of analogous nature, duly accredited. i) Refueling at gas stations or service stations, when necessary for carrying out the activities provided for in the preceding paragraphs.
2. The corresponding delegated competent authority may determine, in its territorial scope, that the start time of the limitation provided for in this article is between 22:00 and 00:00 hours and the end time of said limitation is between 5:00 and 7:00 hours.
   Article 6. Limitation of entry and exit in autonomous communities and cities with Statute of Autonomy.
3. Entry and exit of people from the territory of each autonomous community and each city with Statute of Autonomy is restricted except for adequately justified displacements that occur for any of the following reasons:
   a) Attendance at health centers, services, and establishments. b) Fulfillment of labor, professional, business, institutional, or legal obligations. c) Attendance at university, teaching, and educational centers, including early childhood education schools. cve: BOE-A-2020-12898 Verifiable at https://www.boe.es

OFFICIAL STATE GAZETTE
No. 282 Sunday, October 25, 2020 Sec. I. Page 91917 d) Return to the habitual or family residence. e) Assistance and care for the elderly, minors, dependents, people with disabilities, or especially vulnerable persons. f) Displacement to financial and insurance entities or refueling stations in border territories. g) Actions required or urgent before public, judicial, or notarial bodies. h) Renewal of permits and official documentation, as well as other unpostponable administrative procedures. i) Taking unpostponable official exams or tests. j) Force majeure or situation of necessity. k) Any other activity of analogous nature, duly accredited.
2. Without prejudice to what is provided in the previous paragraph, the corresponding delegated competent authority may additionally limit the entry and exit of people in territorial scopes of a geographically lower nature than the autonomous community and city with Statute of Autonomy, with the exceptions provided for in the previous paragraph.
3. Circulation in transit through the territorial scopes where the limitations provided for in this article apply shall not be subject to any restriction.
Article 7. Limitation of the stay of groups of people in public and private spaces.

1. The stay of groups of people in public use spaces, both closed and outdoors, shall be conditioned so that the maximum number of six people is not exceeded, unless they are cohabitants and without prejudice to the exceptions established regarding dependencies, facilities, and establishments open to the public. The stay of groups of people in private use spaces shall be conditioned so that the maximum number of six people is not exceeded, unless they are cohabitants.
   In the case of gatherings that include both cohabitants and non-cohabitants, the maximum number referred to in the preceding paragraph shall be six people.
2. The corresponding delegated competent authority may determine, in its territorial scope, based on the evolution of health, epidemiological, social, economic, and mobility indicators, prior communication to the Ministry of Health and in accordance with what is provided for in article 13, that the maximum number referred to in the previous paragraph be lower than six people, unless they are cohabitants.
   Likewise, in accordance with what is provided for in article 10, the delegated competent authorities may, in their territorial scope, establish exceptions regarding minors or dependents, as well as any other flexibility of the limitation provided for in this article.
3. Meetings in public thoroughfares and demonstrations carried out in exercise of the fundamental right regulated in article 21 of the Constitution may be limited, conditioned, or prohibited when the prior communication presented by the promoters does not guarantee the necessary personal distance to prevent infections.
4. The limitation provided for in this article shall not include labor and institutional activities nor those for which specific measures are established in the applicable regulations.
   Article 8. Limitation on the stay of people in places of worship.
   The stay of people in places of worship is limited by fixing, by the corresponding delegated competent authority, capacities for meetings, celebrations, and religious encounters, attending to the risk of transmission that could occur. cve: BOE-A-2020-12898 Verifiable at https://www.boe.es

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