Spain imposes night-time curfew to curb spread of COVID-19 infection

By Lokmat English Desk | Published: October 26, 2020 06:25 PM2020-10-26T18:25:51+5:302020-10-26T18:25:51+5:30

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Spain has declared a national state of emergency and imposed a night-time curfew in an effort to help control a new spike in Covid-19 infections.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the curfew, between the hours of 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., would come into force on Sunday, the BBC reported.

Under the emergency measures, local authorities can also ban travel between regions, Sanchez said. He said he would ask parliament to extend the new rules, initially in force for 15 days, to six months.

Spain was hit hard during the first wave of the pandemic earlier this year and imposed a much more restrictive lockdown - one of the toughest in the world.

Like many other European regions, however, it has been hit by a second wave of infections. In Italy, new restrictions were also announced on Sunday. The government said the steady rise in cases there was causing a huge strain on the country's health services.

Sanchez said different regions would have up to an hour of flexibility if they wanted to modify the duration of the overnight curfew.He said restrictions on movement between districts would be determined by regional leaders and was likely to be dependent on work and medical needs.

The new measures announced include a limit on public and private gatherings of different households to a maximum of six people.

"The situation we are going through is extreme," Sanchez said in a televised address on Sunday, adding: "It is the most serious in the past half century".

In other places across Italy cinemas, swimming pools, theaters and gyms will be closed from Monday. Bars, restaurants and cafes will have to be shut down until 6 p.m. However, more shops and transactions will continue.

The new restrictions have been imposed by mutual consent of Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and provincial leaders. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte told a news conference on Sunday: "We have a lot to suffer this month. However, due to these restrictions, we in December

The first wave did not want to re-impose a national lockdown like the one implemented in March and April, as there was a lot of financial loss at the time. Under the new restrictions, most schools will teach online, said Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Coe.

The coronavirus outbreak, which started in China in December last year, almost stopped the world. About seven months later, the fear of a second wave of corona has returned to normal. New cases of corona infection in many countries of the world.

Cases of coronavirus infection in Belgium could soon reach alarming levels, the Belgian health minister has warned. Also, new restrictions have been imposed in Belgium since Monday. Order to close all restaurants for four weeks.

The situation is even more worrying in the Czech Republic. The incidence of new cases of corona infection is highest in the entire region. A total lockdown is being considered across the country.

Poland gained excellent control over coronavirus infections during March-April. Poland was also appreciative of this. Last week, however, tens of thousands of new were are now daily found to be infected.

To curb the spread of coronavirus, the German government has decided to invest a huge amount in improving ventilation across public buildings. The number of coronavirus infections in the country is on the rise and a record number of patients were recorded here in a single day on Saturday.