Spain’s autonomous Catalonia region on Saturday reinstalled a lockdown for some 200,000 residents near the town of Lerida following a sharp increase in coronavirus cases.
“We have decided to confine the del Segria zone following data confirming a sharp rise in COVID-19 infections,” Catalonia’s regional president Quim Torra told reporters on Saturday, saying the regional government had to “take a step back to protect ourselves and control the outbreak.”
The confinement started at noon, and means no one can enter or leave the area — part of the greater Lleida region — but does not require residents to stay in their homes. People can only enter or exit the area, which is comprised of 38 municipalities, to go to work or in an emergency. Those who are found in breach of the new rules will face fines, local media reported.
The health department said Friday it had reported 365 new coronavirus cases in the region in the past week, double the number detected the previous week and more than in any week in March and April. Several of the local outbreaks are linked to fruit-picking companies, a nursing home and a homeless shelter, according to authorities.
Spain, one of the worst-hit countries in Europe, has seen 250,545 confirmed coronavirus cases and 28,385 deaths.