The local government of Madrid, the region of Spain hit hardest by the pandemic, said Wednesday it was considering imposing lockdown measures in neighbourhoods recording the biggest rise in Covid-19 infections.
The region’s deputy health chief, Antonio Zapatero, said the restrictions would involve limitations on the size of gatherings and well as of people’s movements and they will be announced by the end of the week.
“The highest incidence levels are still currently in the south of Madrid,” he said without naming which neighbourhoods might be affected.
Several working class neighbourhoods in southern Madrid and satellite cities south of the Spanish capital have recorded in the last two weeks 700 Covid-19 cases or more per 100,000 inhabitants.
The densely-populated Puente de Vallecas in southern Madrid has recorded 1,000 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
By comparison Spain as a whole had around 280 cases per 100,000 people while neighbouring France had 160.
In August the regional government of Madrid had already advised residents in areas with a high level of infections to stay at home and avoid unnecessary trips and meetings but this has not stop Covid-19 cases from rising.
Spain on Tuesday surpassed 600,000 confirmed cases of the virus and 30,000 deaths from the respiratory disease, one of the world’s highest tolls.
In the Madrid region 21 percent of hospital beds are occupied by Covid-19 patients, more than double the national average which stands at 8.5 percent.
The central government imposed a nationwide lockdown in mid-March that was only fully lifted at the end of June.
