Spain locks down to contain Covid surge

Madrid, March 15

Spain has followed Italy and imposed a near total nationwide lockdown to fight the spread of coronavirus by banning people from leaving home except to go to work, get medical care or buy food.

Begona Gomez, the wife of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, his office has confirmed. Both Gomez and Sanchez are in good condition and are following the preventive measures recommended by health authorities, Xinhua news agency quoted the office as saying in a statement late Saturday night. The news came just three hours after Sanchez approved the imposition of a State of Alarm in Spain for the next 15 days.

Spain confirmed more than 1,500 new cases of coronavirus since Friday evening, raising its total to 5,753 cases, the second-highest number in Europe after Italy. The disease has so far claimed 183 lives in Spain. The global toll has reached over 6,000.

“The prohibition to circulate in the streets… must be followed starting today,” he said in a televised address after a cabinet meeting that lasted more than seven hours.

Spaniards may leave home to go to work, “buy bread”, go to the pharmacy and get medical care but “not to go have dinner at a friend’s house”, he added.

Police would ensure the restrictions on people’s movements are obeyed, the prime minister said.

In China, Beijing authorities have decided to send all international arrivals in the Chinese capital to quarantine facilities starting Monday, state media reported, as China steps up measures against imported coronavirus cases.

People arriving from abroad had previously been allowed to undergo the mandatory two-week quarantine at home, but now only those in “special circumstances” will be exempted from being sent to facilities where they must pay for their stay, local Communist Party newspaper Beijing Daily reported Sunday.

The death toll from the coronavirus in Iran has risen by 113 to 724, according to the latest figures from the country’s Health Ministry on Sunday, reports said. — Agencies

Anxious France votes in local polls

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Chile quarantines 1,300 aboard 2 ships

Santiago: Chile has quarantined more than 1,300 people aboard two cruise ships after an elderly Briton aboard one of them tested positive for the coronavirus, the health ministry announced Saturday. Both ships are cruising the Chilean fjords in Patagonia. AFP

IS issues travel advisory for ultras

London: The Islamic State (IS) terrorist group has issued a travel advisory for its operatives to steer clear of coronavirus-hit Europe, described as “the land of the epidemic”. According to The Sunday Times, the latest issue of the IS ‘Al-Naba’ newsletter refers to a new set of “sharia directives” warning against travel to Europe. PTI

Italian architect of Barcelona stadium dies

Rome: Vittorio Gregotti, an Italian architect who designed the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics stadium, died Sunday at the age of 92 after catching the novel coronavirus, Italian media said. Gregotti died of pneumonia after being hospitalised in Milan having contracted COVID-19, the AGI news agency and the Corriere della Sera newspaper reported. AFP

Queen shifted from Buckingham Palace

London: The UK’s Queen Elizabeth II left the Buckingham Palace and has been taken to the Windsor Castle with plans in place to quarantine her and Prince Philip at Sandringham if the coronavirus outbreak worsens in the country, it was reported on Sunday. A royal source told The Sun newspaper that she was taken to Windsor. IANS