Spain eases strict lockdown as US approves virus drug

After so many weeks in confinement, I badly wanted to go out, run, see the world Marcos Abeytua financial adviser

Spaniards took to the streets to jog, cycle and rollerskate for the first time after 48 days of confinement on Saturday as some European nations cautiously eased virus lockdowns and Russia faced a large spike in new infections.

As governments across the globe weigh how to lift restrictions to restart economies against the risk of new infections, US authorities brought some hope by approving an experimental drug for emergency use on coronavirus patients.

The decision was the latest step in a global push to find treatments and a vaccine for the coronavirus, which has left half of humanity under some form of lockdown and pushed the world economy towards its worst downturn since the Great Depression in the 1930s.

The virus has killed nearly 239,000 people worldwide and caused more than 3.3 million confirmed infections since it emerged in China late last year.

With signs the pandemic in their hardest-hit nations is slowing, European countries and some parts of the US have begun to lift restrictions to try to inject life into economies crippled by weeks of closure.

From Madrid to Mallorca, Spaniards flocked to the streets as they were allowed to exercise and walk freely outside as the government eased seven weeks of strict lockdown

in a country with one of the highest number of fatalities at nearly 25,000.

“After so many weeks in confinement, I badly wanted to go out, run, see the world,” said financial advisor Marcos Abeytua in Madrid’s Chueca district who got up a 7am to enjoy some time outside. “Yesterday, I was like a child on Christmas Eve.”

Near the city’s Retiro park, many residents were out to running, sometimes in groups, as a policeman used a loudspeaker to urge them to keep out of the deserted avenue and on the pavement.

Crowds of runners mingled with cyclists and skateboarders enjoying sports in the sun in Barcelona’s seaside neighbourhood.

“This all seems a bit crazy to me. On the first day we get some freedom I don’t see any safe distancing at all,” said Christian, an Italian living in Barcelona. “I didn’t expect to see thousands of people running like this.”—

AP SIGH OF RELIEF: People exercise on a seafront promenade in Barcelona on Saturday. Spaniards have filled the streets of the country to do exercise for the first time after seven weeks of confinement in their homes to fight the coronavirus pandemic. —

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