Two more Spanish cities announce lockdown orders as a second wave of cases spreads beyond the capital.
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Version 0 of 1. Two midsize Spanish cities, León and Palencia, were ordered on Monday by the regional authorities to apply lockdown restrictions similar to those that came into force in Madrid last weekend, underlining the extent to which a second wave of coronavirus infections is spreading beyond Spain’s capital region. The new restrictions mean that residents of León and Palencia, which are in the northwestern region of Castile and León, will not be able to leave their cities as of Tuesday. Both have reached an infection rate of more than 500 cases per 100,000 residents. Over the last seven days, Spain has reported 73,451 new cases, which works out to 157 cases per 100,000 residents, according to a Times database. As of Monday, almost 11,000 people were being treated in hospitals across the country for Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, including 1,580 people in intensive care units. In other global developments: Bars in Paris will close for two weeks starting on Tuesday, the authorities there announced on Monday, as France tries to stem a surge of coronavirus cases in its capital. The measure will also affect most cafes, which in many cases serve alcohol, but little or no food. Restaurants will be able to remain open if they follow a strict health protocol. Local health officials said the capital had been above the thresholds for the top alert level — more than 250 coronavirus cases per 100,000 people generally, more than 100 per 100,000 among the elderly, and more than one-third of intensive care beds used for Covid-19 patients — since last Thursday. Nicolas Maduro, the leader of Venezuela, has said his son and sister plan to take part in clinical trials of a coronavirus vaccine developed in Russia. Russian health officials in August said they were the first in the world to register a vaccine for emergency use outside of clinical trials, but no other countries have followed their lead with the Russian vaccine. The vaccine, called Sputnik V, has not been tested in late-stage clinical trials that show whether a vaccine is effective and whether it has side effects. Those trials are underway in Russia, Belarus and Venezuela. Russia also plans to test the vaccine in Brazil, India and the United Arab Emirates. In the trial, Mr. Maduro’s family members will receive either a placebo or the vaccine. Mr. Maduro said he planned to take the Russian vaccine once the trial is completed. New Zealand will lift restrictions on Auckland, its most populous city, from midnight on Wednesday, joining the rest of the nation. Restrictions had been reinstated after a cluster of infections emerged, but after the city reported no new infections for 10 consecutive days, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday that a second wave there had almost certainly been “eliminated.” |