Spain ‘set to declare Covid state of emergency and national curfew’ as coronavirus cases top 1 MILLION
SPAIN could declare a Covid state of emergency and national curfew as coronavirus cases top one million.
More than one third of the country - about 15.8 million people - will be placed under new stricter restrictions from this week, with a nation-wide curfew extension under consideration.
Regional authorities brought in the tougher new restrictions as infections, hospital admissions and deaths surged over the past two months.
With the most confirmed cases in Western Europe, Spain is struggling to manage its second wave.
The second wave is no longer a threat, it is a reality ... A curfew requires a state of emergency and we will analyse it.
Spain's health minister Salvador Illa
Official figures suggest Spain has surpassed one million confirmed cases of coronavirus since the outbreak began.
More than 34,000 people have died with 459 deaths recorded in the past week and one in five intensive care beds is occupied by a Covid-19 patient, according to official figures.
“The second wave is no longer a threat, it is a reality,” Spain's health minister Salvador Illa said during a press conference form Madrid on Tuesday.
“A curfew requires a state of emergency and we will analyse it.”
He warned: "If we opt for this, I want to know which parties are willing to support it".
Parliament would need to approve extending the present state of emergency, which was applied to Madrid and nearby cities on October 9, and due to expire at the end of the week.
The Madrid regional government under Isabel Díaz Ayuso called on Tuesday for a nation-wide curfew.
However, Ms Ayuso has been at loggerheads with the central government over restrictions.
Mr Illa said restrictions could be "adopted throughout the territory or only in part" and advised that the next step would be discussed at the interterritorial meeting of autonomous community health authorities on Thursday.
Ignacio Rosell, professor of preventive medicine and public health at the University of Valladolid, said: “We need more restrictive and forceful measures with a big national agreement. It is too late. But the sooner it is rectified, the less damage there will be.”
Most read in News
Restrictions have been imposed across the country, notably in the two hardest hit regions, with Madrid placed on partial lockdown and Catalonia shutting bars and restaurants.
Authorities in the northern region of Castile and Leon closed off the city of Burgos and nearby Aranda de Duero to all but essential travel on Tuesday night after infections in the area exceeded 500 per 100,000 people.
Aragon also introduced capacity limits at bars and restaurants and banned the sale of alcohol after 10pm.
