Barcelona has begun on Sunday a second lockdown for 15 days due to a recent surge of COVID-19 (coronavirus) cases.
The local government, according to Agencia EFE, announced the measures on Friday, June 17, asking people not to leave their houses except for essential reasons and not to travel to second homes. Social gatherings have also been limited to no more than 10 people and restaurants and bars have had their capacity capped at 50 percent. Night clubs, cinemas, theaters and gyms have been ordered to close.
Spanish health minister Salvador Illa said that it is not a “second wave,” rather that Barcelona has “community transmission.” Difficulties in contact tracing to specific small centers required the second round of lockdown measures.
On Friday, health authorities reported 1,293 new cases in the region from the previous 24 hours—884 of which were detected in Barcelona’s metropolitan area. The Telegraph reports that, over the weekend, 4,581 new cases were recorded as locals largely ignored the stay-at-home advisory. According to Johns Hopkins University & Medicine, Catalonia, Spain, has had 69,393 confirmed cases and 5,678 deaths. Official figures, according to EFE, put the number of cases even higher—at 80,700.
Beyond Barcelona, the restrictions also apply to Lleida and measures were already put in place in the city of L’Hospitalet de Llobregat. Areas in the region of Aragon, which neighbors Catalonia, have also implemented restrictions to contain a recent outbreak of COVID-19; the cities of Zaragoza and Huesca re-imposed restrictions after 272 new cases were detected last Thursday.
Spain, overall, has 264,836 confirmed cases, according to Johns Hopkins, as well as 28,422 deaths. The country began reopening from its initial lockdown on June 21. The Telegraph reports that Spain’s coronavirus rates have tripled in the weeks since reopening.
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