Covid Free or Virus Free certificates are spreading throughout Spain, in shops, bars, restaurants and even hotels, due to the passivity of the Ministry of Health. In recent days, the OCU (Organization of Consumers and Users) and, according to what they say, offer a false image of security, for which they have requested urgent action from the department headed by Salvador Illa.
However, and in the absence of any kind of measure, more and more venues are using these badges, without any kind of clear regulation on who offers these certificates and what are the requirements to obtain them.
The OCU explains that “unfortunately, as much as we would like it to be so, it is not possible to guarantee with any seal that an establishment is free of coronavirus”, insisting that “it can be ensured that it has been disinfected, but not that it remains so in the moment it reopens.” In fact, there are many infected people who do not have symptoms and when they enter the premises they may be spreading the virus, due to many disinfection treatments that have been carried out before, according to the consumer organization.
Hygiene and cleanliness
And along the same lines, the CEC, which brings together small and medium-sized businesses, assures that “great efforts are being made from the sector to clean, sanitize and disinfect the premises, but”.
After actively participating in the preparation of the Guide to Good Practices for Establishments in the Commercial Sector, the CEC has thus urged compliance by businesses with these health and safety protocols established by the Ministry of Health and Industry and Commerce and Tourism, recalling the importance of “continuing to take security measures to prevent contagion both in shops and outside them.”
Together with these two organizations, the National Association of Environmental Health Companies (Anecpla) has also spoken. In their opinion, they deny that there can be a guarantee of coronavirus-free spaces and classify the stamps as a fraudulent commercial strategy. In a statement, collected by EFE, this association recalls that the guarantee of total disinfection of the surfaces of any premises is only possible at the moment the treatment is finished and before it opens, but once it opens its doors and the flow of people and goods begins, zero risk does not exist. According to what they say, there are those who issue ‘Covid free’ stamps “at the stroke of a checkbook without any type of scientific guarantee to endorse it”, certificates that -in the opinion of the president of this association, Sergio Monge-, “are nothing more than a mere tool of marketing without any scientific backing to back it up.
Tourism is no stranger to these stamps either. Various hotel spaces have a badge that ensures that there is no circulation of the virus in their facilities at any time. The Spanish Confederation of Hotels and Tourist Accommodation (Cehat) works with the Hotel Technological Institute on a protocol of security regulations that allow these establishments to adapt to the ‘new normality’ but in no case do they link the monitoring of these regulations with any seal. Covid-free’.
Despite all these voices that have positioned themselves against (or disconnected from) the use of these stamps, the competent authority remains silent. This newspaper issued a query two days ago in order to find out the position of the Ministry of Health regarding these practices as well as to find out if they are working on any order that avoids this type of message that could confuse the population. At press time there has been no response to any of the questions raised.
Therefore, today what exists is a proliferation of stamps that do not guarantee that the virus can circulate in the establishments and could only prove, in the best of cases, that disinfection procedures are being carried out that They would only ensure what they assert at the time of opening, but not after.
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