The Spanish government will lift the requirement for people to wear masks outdoors from next Thursday, Health Minister Carolina Darias has said.
The measure was reinstated in late December to curb the spread of the Omicron variant. The cabinet plans to approve the change at its weekly meeting scheduled for Tuesday and make it effective two days later, Ms Darias told La SER radio station.
The government "always said it would last only while it was strictly necessary," she said. As contagion rates have fallen for several days, the government considers situation has changed, she said.
In the past two weeks, the incidence rate for Covid-19 has been steadily falling to 2,421 cases per 100,000 people yesterday, down from almost 3,400 in early January.