Madrid locks back down as European leaders sound alarm on Covid-19 surges

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Thu, 2020-10-01 22:53 — mike kraft

Madrid locks back down as Europe's leaders sound alarm on Covid-19 surges Madrid is going back under city-wide lockdown measures after a surge in coronavirus cases in the Spanish capital, in a dramatic move that illustrates the growing intensity of Europe's battle against a snowballing surge of infection. Emma Reynolds, CNN CNN

CNN)Madrid is going back under city-wide lockdown measures after a surge in coronavirus cases in the Spanish capital, in a dramatic move that illustrates the growing intensity of Europe's battle against a snowballing surge of infection.

People will not be able to leave or enter their area except for work, education or health reasons, gatherings will be limited to six people and stores, bars and restaurants will have to reduce capacity by 50% and close by 10 p.m.

"Madrid is special because the health of Madrid is the health of Spain," Spanish Health Minister Salvador Illa told a news conference Wednesday as he announced the measures, calling the situation "complex" and "worrying."

The restrictions will apply to municipalities with more than 500 cases per 100,000 people in the past 14 days, where the number of positive cases surpasses 10% of all diagnostic tests or where Covid-19 patients make up more than 35% of occupied ICU beds.

New restrictions in northern England

UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock on Thursday announced a ban on households mixing indoors for Liverpool and several other cities in northern England following a rapid rise in cases. The new measures also recommend against non-essential travel, amateur sports watching and care home visits except in exceptional circumstances.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Wednesday that this was a "critical moment," adding that if the evidence requires it, he will not hesitate to take "more costly" measures.

There were 7,108 new cases in the UK on Wednesday after a record rise on Tuesday. Hancock warned that the R (reproduction) number remains above 1, meaning the virus "continues to spread," but he told Parliament that there were "early signs" increased measures were having a positive impact.

Germany's coronavirus cases rose by 2,503 to 291,722 Thursday, its second highest increase since April. German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday appealed to citizens to "obey the rules" going into winter. "I am sure: life as we know it will return, but now we have to be reasonable."

Merkel on Tuesday announced an array of new measures aimed at stopping a recent spike in infections in the country. She said that gatherings in public venues would be limited to no more

than 50 people in areas with a large number of cases. ...

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