Note to readers: EL PAÍS openly offers essential information on the coronavirus during the pandemic. If you want to support our journalism, subscribe here .
Spain has notified 19,382 new infections this Monday since Friday, 2,060 in the last 24 hours, and 34 deaths have been added to the official count. In total, 405,437 people have been infected and 28,872 have died since the beginning of the pandemic. Fernando Simón, director of the Center for the Coordination of Health Alerts and Emergencies, has assured that Madrid must take "drastic" measures in the face of the acceleration of the pandemic. The Minister of Justice of the Community of Madrid, Enrique López, has asked citizens this Monday to avoid "unnecessary social interactions", while in Catalonia, the presidentof the Generalitat, Quim Torra, has announced new restrictions to stop the increase in cases. Among the measures announced by the Generalitat is the prohibition of social gatherings of more than 10 people, the reduction of capacity in classrooms and the carrying out of 500,000 PCRs in schools and institutes. For its part, Murcia has decided to prohibit the meetings of more than six people who are not living together. This afternoon a meeting of the working group created by the Government to monitor the incidence of the virus in nursing homes is scheduled. The European Union has reached an agreement with the Modern pharmaceutical company for the supply of 80 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine that the American company is currently developing. The contract between the EU and Moderna includes an option that would allow Union member states to purchase another 80 million doses. The pandemic already exceeds 23.4 million infections and 809,000 deaths worldwide, according to the Johns Hopkins University count.