Now it’s Spain’s turn
Nation looks to follow Italy into quarantine; European toll rises
MADRID — With Italy already submerged in a national quarantine, Spain took a major step Friday toward a similar lockdown as it struggles to ride the wave of the coronavirus pandemic spawning illness and fear around the globe.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said his government will declare a twoweek state of emergency on Saturday, giving itself extraordinary powers including the mobilization of the armed forces, to confront the COVID-19 outbreak.
“It’s an emergency that affects the life and health of all,” Sánchez said, adding that he is preparing a battery of measures to brace the nation for an even bigger jump in infections indicated by the rapidly increasing contagion curve.
The positive cases could top 10,000 by next week, the prime minister warned in his televised address, from more than 4,200 confirmed by midday Friday. A total 120 people have died, and 189 have been declared as recovered.
Over 60,000 people in four towns near Barcelona are confined to their homes and with police blocking roads, in the country’s first mandatory lockdown.
Southeastern Murcia since announced it was locking down coastal areas, which could affect more than 350,000.
And late in the evening, the regional authorities of Catalonia, in the northeast, and Madrid, urged central authorities to declare full lockdowns.
Over 70 countries, including neighboring Morocco, have restricted arrivals from Spain, which has so far only stopped flights with Italy.
On Friday, the British government advised against all but essential travel to Spain’s La Rioja, parts of the Basque
Country and the Madrid region, which has seen more than 2,000 positive cases of the new virus.
Unlike China, which cracked down quickly to restrict movement by people, Italy, Spain and other European countries have tried to strike a balance between the public health crisis and individual freedoms.
Their failure to act quickly was criticized by President Trump when he instituted the 30-day ban on travel from Europe that went into effect Friday.
Italian authorities have acknowledged that escalating restrictions have been unable to contain the virus. Italy this week has gone into complete quarantine with authorities threatening to impose heavy fines and even jail time for those who break it.