The region of Catalonia has ordered this Saturday the confinement of an area of 200,000 inhabitants. It is located around Lerida, in the North East of Spain. There are more and more cases of contagion from the new coronavirus.
"We have decided to confine the area of Segria (around the city of Lerida) , based on data that confirm a very significant growth in the number of contagions of Covid-19," said the president of the region, the separatist Quim Torra. "We cannot relax," he added.
Hem de fer un pas enrere per protectegir-nos i controlar el rebrot. Per això hem decidit confinar perimetralment el Segrià. Des del @govern, vetllarem cada minut per fer out the comarca d'aquesta situació. No ens podem relaxar neither a segon, neither in Segrià nor at the resta de Catalunya pic.twitter.com/jtaX27wWUP
- Quim Torra i Pla (@QuimTorraiPla) July 4, 2020The decision took effect at noon. Entrances and exits to the affected area are restricted. The regional Minister of Health, Alba Verges, clarified that the regrouping of more than ten people was prohibited and the visits to the retirement homes suspended.
This decision takes place two weeks after the lifting of the general confinement which prevented the Spaniards from leaving their province. It also intervenes when Spain begins the summer holidays and opens up more widely to tourists. Spain has already admitted citizens of the European Union and the Schengen area as well as the British on June 21. The reopening of borders with 12 additional countries has been effective since this Saturday.
Reinforcements to control travelers to Spain
Spain is one of the countries most affected by the pandemic, with at least 28,385 deaths. However, the authorities estimate that they have succeeded in controlling the contagion after a severe confinement of more than three months. However, the country on Friday recorded 17 deaths from Covid-19 in one day, according to the Ministry of Health, the highest daily number of deaths since June 19. The number of confirmed cases in Spain reaches 250,545 for 47 million inhabitants.
The Ministry of Health said on Friday that new reinforcements were deployed at airports for "checking travelers' arrivals" with taking temperature and collecting their personal data.
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Several other countries have already used local reconfiguration in recent days. This is, among others, the case of the United Kingdom, Portugal and Germany.