Spain locks down an area with 200,000 people after spike in coronavirus cases just as Britons prepare to head out there on long-awaited summer holidays
- Spain’s Catalonia region has locked down an area of 200,000 residents
- Comes as Britons prepare to make the most of ‘air bridges’ to visit Spain
- The regional president Quim Torra said no one would enter or leave
Spain’s Catalonia region has locked down an area following a surge in coronavirus cases just as Brits prepare to holiday in the country.
An area near the town of Lleida, home to around 200,000 people, has been shut down today.
‘We have decided to confine the del Segria zone following data confirming a sharp rise in COVID-19 infections,’ Catalonia’s regional president Quim Torra told reporters, adding that no one would be allowed to enter or leave the area.
There have been 62,057 confirmed cases in Catalonia since the outbreak began, with 5,673 related deaths.
The Ministry of Health in Spain has registered 21 deaths from coronavirus in the last week.
Seventeen new deaths were reported yesterday, with the official country-wide coronavirus death toll now at 28,385.
Spain’s mortality rate recently returned to normal compared with the same period over the previous five years, with no excess deaths since 18 May.
Some 174 infections have been diagnosed in the country in the last 24 hours, an increase compared to yesterday when 134 were registered. In total, 250,545 have been infected.
After almost 100 days of confinement, Spain reached the so-called new normal.
Restrictions were lifted and borders with the EU and 15 non-Schengen area countries were opened.
Arrivals from the United Kingdom are not required to self-isolate on arrival but will be subject to a series of three health checks including face masks on public transport and public spaces where it is not possible to maintain five-foot distance.
England will lift the quarantine of travellers arriving from Spain on July 10 and an air bridge was opened to the country from today.
In Catalonia, the government entrusts individuals with the responsibility to avoid contagion.
The restrictions on capacity, both indoors and outdoors, no longer apply. The permitted capacity of each venue is subject only to the ability to guarantee a safety distance between people of 1.5 metres. This is equivalent to a ratio of 2.5 m² per person. The use of face masks is mandatory whenever the 1.5 metre distance cannot be ensured.
More to follow.