(Bloomberg) -- Spain must react right away to stop the expansion of the coronavirus pandemic given a recent change in infection trends, according to the country's health minister.
“Spain is facing a very concerning situation with the pandemic” as the trend of infections changes in many of the country's regions, Health Minister Salvador Illa said in a press conference Friday. “We need to react,” he said, adding that vaccination will start in the country on Dec. 27.
Illa's comments came on the back of an agreement earlier in the week to grant Spain's 17 regional government discretionary powers to tighten restrictions on social gatherings for the Christmas holidays. On Dec. 16, daily infections reached the highest in almost a month and this week the tally of deaths from coronavirus since the start of the pandemic surpassed 48,000.
The health minister has repeatedly said in recent weeks that people should stay at home during the Christmas season and not lower their guard to avoid fueling a surge in contagion.
Since lifting one of the world's tightest lockdowns in June, Spanish authorities have sought to avoid the tight restrictions seen in recent weeks in European nations such as the U.K., France or Germany.
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