Barcelona residents urged to stay home

The regional government of Catalonia has announced new restrictions in Barcelona and its surrounding metropolitan area in an effort to control outbreaks of coronavirus there.

The measures, which are due to last two weeks, include limiting numbers of people in bars and restaurants and closing down nightclubs, gyms and cultural venues. The authorities have said that people should only leave home for essential errands and that no more than 10 people should gather together at once. The measures, which are recommendations and not prohibitions, will affect an estimated four million inhabitants of the area.

“This is a difficult moment,” said Catalan government spokesperson Meritxell Budó. “We have to act quickly in order to prevent a situation like the one we had in March.”

Similar restrictions have been in place in some districts of the neighbouring city of L’Hospitalet de Llobregat in recent days. Also, the Catalan area of Segrià has been in quarantine for the last two weeks and these new measures will also apply there.

On Thursday, Catalonia reported about 1,300 new infections, more than half of which were in Barcelona or the surrounding area.

(BBC)