Amid soaring Covid-19 infections, the regional government of Catalonia, Spain has approved a new package of measures, including the perimeter confinement of each municipality, limiting people to their own district on weekends.
Acting President of Catalonia Pere Aragonès announced that the regional government had voted in favor of the new restrictions which will see the region’s borders close and the introduction of confinement for Catalonia’s municipalities from October 30.
The ban on entering and exiting the region will last for 15 days, and the prohibition of movement between districts will be in place each week from Friday at 6:00am local time until the same time the following Monday. The perimeter confinement is similar to restrictions in Andalucía, while Navarra, La Rioja and Aragón have already introduced regional border closures.
“Today’s data is not good. It is an extremely serious situation. The measures are harsh and forceful because Covid-19 is hitting us again with force,” Aragonès noted.
Spain’s health minister, Salvador Illa, told parliament he is aware that Catalonians are tired after months of effort and sacrifice, but added, “it is not the time to relax measures, we have very tough weeks and months ahead of us.”
The regional government also elected to extend the closure of restaurants and shopping centers, as well as maintaining reduced capacity at commercial premises and a suspension on cultural and sporting activities. The restrictions were originally brought in on October 16, but will now be extended for a further 15 days.
The region, which is home to the tourist hotspot of Barcelona, has become something of a hotbed for coronavirus over the last month.
Between October 19 and 25, the last week for which figures are available, the Catalonia government reported 30,407 new Covid-19 infections in the community across the region, more than double those reported two weeks ago.
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