Spain locks down 46 million citizens
BARCELONA, Spain — Spain locked down its 46 million citizens and France ordered the closing of just about everything the rest of the world loves about it — the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the cafes and restaurants — as governments took increasingly desperate measures to put more space between people and contain the coronavirus.
More borders snapped shut around the globe on Saturday and Sunday: President Donald Trump announced that the US, which days ago barred travellers from most of Europe, will extend the ban to Britain and Ireland. In the Philippines, thousands of police and soldiers started sealing the densely populated capital from most domestic travellers in one of
Southeast Asia’s most drastic containment moves.
Meanwhile, China, where the virus first appeared late last year, continued to relax its drastic restrictions, illustrating the way the centre of gravity in the crisis has shifted westward toward Europe. The virus has infected more than 145,000 people worldwide and killed more than 5400.
In a nationally televised address on Saturday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez detailed the battery of exceptional measures put in place as part of a two-week state of emergency to fight the sharp rise in infections.
Later Saturday, Spain’s government said Mr Sánchez’s wife has tested positive for coronavirus. Begoña
Gómez and the prime minister are in good health, the government said.
Two ministers of Mr Sánchez’s Cabinet, the minister of equality and the minister of regional affairs, had already tested positive earlier this week. The others member of the Cabinet have tested negative.
In a lockdown similar to the one already imposed in Italy, people will be allowed to leave their homes only to buy food and medicine, commute to work, go to hospitals and banks, or take trips related to the care of the young and the elderly. All schools and universities were closed, along with restaurants, bars, hotels and other non-essential retail businesses.
“From now we enter into a new phase,” Mr Sánchez said after a Cabinet meeting that lasted over seven hours. “We won’t hesitate in doing what we must to beat the virus. We are putting health first.”
Spanish authorities said the number of infections climbed past 5700, half of them in the capital, Madrid. That represents a national increase of more than 1500 in 24 hours. The country had 136 deaths, up from 120. Spain has the fifthhighest number of cases, behind China, Italy, Iran and South Korea.
For most people, the coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. The vast majority of people recover in a matter of weeks.
Despite pleas for calm from authorities, shoppers packed supermarkets in Spain in the morning. But overall, the normally bustling streets of the country’s two biggest cities were noticeably quieter as the message sank in that social distancing is the only way to stop the pandemic.
“We had to close and remain shut for 15 days,” restaurant owner Rachel Paparardo said in Barcelona, which was already under regional restrictions.
“But this is nothing. It is just so more people don’t get infected and we can recover from this.”
Some flights bound for Spain turned around as word spread of the lockdown.
In the Philippines, new restrictions for metropolitan Manila — home to more than 12 million people — that went into effect on Sunday mean the suspension of domestic travel by land, air and sea to and from the capital region.
Large gatherings such as concerts, movies and cockfighting are prohibited and most government work in executive department offices will be suspended in the metropolis for a month. School closures at all levels were extended and curfew was in the works.
“If you’ll go to work, go. If you need to go out for medical treatment, go. If you’ll buy food, go, but other than that, stay home,” Philippine Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano told a news conference.
Countries around the world have been moving to prevent their health systems from collapsing under the load of all the virus cases. Paris followed other cities in shuttering major tourist attractions, and France announced the closing of all restaurants, cafes, theatres and nonessential shops starting on Sunday. France has recorded at least 3600 infections. It has banned all gatherings of more than 100 people, ordered all schools closed and asked companies to allow workers to stay home.