Madrid, Feb 8 (IANS): People in Spain will no longer have to wear face masks on public transport from February 8 after the decision was taken to end their obligatory use as a protection against Covid-19 during Tuesday's cabinet meeting.

The decision is the latest towards the normalisation of life in Spain after the Covid-19 pandemic, with the obligatory use of face masks in most indoor settings ending on April 20, 2022, and outdoors a year ago, on February 10, Xinhua news agency reported.

"We are following the roadmap that we planned to return to normality," Spain's Minister for Health, Carolina Darias, told journalists.

Face masks will, however, still have to be worn in hospitals, health centres and pharmacies "due to the vulnerability of the people who are there," the Minister said.

The country's epidemiological situation is steadily improving, Darias added.

On February 3, the 14-day notification rate of new Covid-19 cases in the country's population aged 60 years and above stood at 50.76 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, nearly 50 points lower than the 97.60 cases per 100,000 inhabitants registered on January 20.

At present, 2,056 people are hospitalised with the virus, 150 of them in intensive care. Since the start of the pandemic, 118,712 people have lost their lives to Covid-19 in Spain.