Juanma Moreno: "Fingers crossed that a seventh wave doesn't come along and ruin Easter"

The President of the Junta stressed the cultural and economic importance of Semana Santa and said "we are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel of this sixth wave" of the pandemic

EUROPA PRESS

Monday, 17 January 2022 | Updated 18/01/2022 09:20h.

The president of the Junta de Andalucía, Juanma Moreno, has declared "we are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel of this sixth wave" of the pandemic. Covid-19 infections should decrease over the next 10 days, he added.

Speaking at a press conference in the Palacio de San Telmo in Seville, the seat of the Andalusian parliament, Moreno said he is hopeful that Easter week, Semana Santa, can be celebrated in the traditional way with religious procession across the region.

“Although it is increasingly difficult to make forecasts, because the variants behave very differently from each other and are increasingly complex, everything seems to indicate that we are going to bend the curve. The speed of contagion has begun to slow down, and that is a good sign,” he said on 17 January.

He added that there would be "few people more enthusiastic" than him "about the possibility that the Holy Week processions can be held in Andalusia.” Moreno revealed he is a ‘cofrade’ [a member of religious brotherhood], and as an Andalusian he is aware of the positive economic impact of Semana Santa.

He said he is "absolutely in favour of Easter being carried out with all the possibilities" but warned “the virus is unpredictable and the Omicron variant took 32 days to infect the whole world."

“We have to end this sixth wave and cross our fingers so that a seventh wave does not come and ruin Easter for us,” he added.