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Madrid government rejects Spanish government plan to impose stricter coronavirus restrictions

              

The government of Madrid has rejected a Spanish government plan on Wednesday that imposed stricter restrictions in the capital and its suburbs, deepening a domestic confrontation over the response to the pandemic.

                  

Madrid is the region in Europe where a second coronavirus wave is expanding at the fastest rate and has a two-week infection rate of 784 cases per 100,000 residents, which is 2.5 times higher than the national average of 294 cases and seven times higher the average rate in Europe, which stood at 94 per 100,000 residents last week, according to EU statistics.

         

The proposed restrictions include having to justify trips in and out of the cities, capping gatherings at six people, closing playgrounds and limiting customers and opening times at shops and restaurants.

           

Under Spanish Government plans, all large cities are subject to new curbs if they record a two-week infection rate above 500 cases per 100,000 residents, have ICU occupancy above 35 per cent of maximum capacity, and if more than 10 per cent of virus tests performed come back positive. 
                  
Over 1 million people already live under such measures, and many expressed doubt Wednesday about how effective they are.

                 

Madrid's refusal to adopt national standards approved by 13 of Spain's 19 regions and autonomous cities represented a new setback for Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's left-wing coalition, which is trying to push for a stricter response in the opposition-ruled Spanish capital. 

            

In addition to Madrid, officials from three other regions led by conservative and center-right parties rejected the government's document at a meeting on Wednesday, as did the Government of Catalonia. 

            

Catalonia's health chief Alba Vergés said the entire situation had turned "a circus".

             

"We have said that at this stage there needs to be action with responsibility and that they need to find agreements that don't endanger public health,” Mr Vergés said.

              

As of Wednesday, Spain reported a total of nearly 770,000 confirmed coronavirus cases during the pandemic and a virus death toll of over 31,700, although experts say all numbers understate the true toll of the pandemic due to limited testing and other factors.

           

Reporting with AP

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2020-09-30 20:21:00Z
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