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Health Minister Salvador Illa said the socialist-led government would declare a state of emergency, giving it powers to reimpose the measures on 4.5 million people in and around the capital.
Members of the Military Emergencies Unit of Spain (UME) with protective equipment prepare to disinfect the Lope de Vega Cultural Center in the Vallecas neighborhood where the rapid COVID-19 antigen test was carried out on residents of the area, the September 30, 2020 in Madrid. Image: AFP
MADRID – The government of Spain declared a state of emergency on Friday and a new partial blockade for the Madrid area affected by the virus after its previous measures were revoked in court, with the dispute emblematic of the difficulties faced by governments of Europe.
While the drastic restrictions imposed on citizens during the shutdowns in March and April were widely accepted, governments face increased resistance as they try to contain a second wave of coronavirus infections in early fall.
In Madrid, central government restrictions prohibiting people from leaving the city except for work, school or medical reasons have met with strong opposition from right-wing city authorities and were rejected by a regional court on Thursday.
In response, Health Minister Salvador Illa said the socialist-led government would declare a state of emergency, giving 4.5 million people in and around the capital the power to reimpose the measures.
“Protecting the health of the people of Madrid is absolutely essential,” Illa said.
The resistance in Madrid echoes the difficulties the French government faced last month when it closed bars and restaurants in the southern port of Marseille, where elected municipal and regional authorities reacted with fury.
Since then, the partial closures have spread to Paris and other major urban areas, while four other regional cities were placed on high coronavirus alert on Thursday, meaning they will have to close bars and limit public gatherings.
“The health situation in France sadly continues to worsen,” Health Minister Olivier Veran told the nation in a live broadcast on Thursday night.
In Britain, where around a quarter of the 67 million people live in restricted areas, a high-ranking minister has admitted a sense of “frustration”.
“We know and understand that in some of the places where we have imposed local restrictions, we have not yet seen the impact that we would like to have seen, and we understand that this is extremely frustrating for people in those areas,” Robert. Jenrick, the communities secretary, told Sky News on Thursday.
The mayors of several northern English cities, such as Manchester and Middlesbrough, have threatened to challenge the government.
LOSING CONTROL
Overall, the coronavirus has continued its progression around the world this week, with 315,000 new cases on average per day, or six percent more than the previous week, according to an AFP tally on Friday.
Again, the increase was most marked in Europe, which recorded 28 percent more cases than in the previous seven-day period.
In Germany, considered one of the world’s best-performing countries in handling the pandemic, Chancellor Angela Merkel warned on Friday that high-infection areas would have 10 days to reduce infections before tougher measures are taken.
“We all feel that the big cities, the urban areas, are now the stage where we will see if we can keep the pandemic under control in Germany as we have done for months, or if we lose control,” Merkel said after speaking with German mayors.
Meanwhile, Russia recorded a record 12,126 new coronavirus infections on Friday, surpassing its previous daily high set in May.
Russian officials have refused to impose new restrictions since they were lifted in May, but the new figures appear to be prompting a reconsideration.
In the worst-affected country in the world, the United States, President Donald Trump announced tentative plans to hold demonstrations this weekend, despite receiving treatment throughout the week for the coronavirus.
Trump’s doctor issued a statement saying he was prepared for a “safe return to public participation” beginning Saturday.
But there is widespread skepticism about the president’s true state of health, given doctors’ refusal to explain exactly when he was infected and when he last tested negative.
RESTED MIGRANTS
As the costs of the global pandemic continue to rise in terms of loss of life and business, the United Nations released figures on Friday showing the cost of the world’s migrant workers.
The UN International Organization for Migration said that around 2.75 million migrants who wanted to return home have been stranded abroad due to restrictions imposed to combat the coronavirus pandemic.
Border closures and restrictions on air travel meant that many were stranded abroad in need of assistance, including food, water, shelter and repatriation, IOM said.
Most of them, 1.26 million, were from the Middle East and North Africa, and another million from Asia and the Pacific.
There were also new cancellations in the world of sports.
Next year’s Tokyo Marathon was postponed until after the delayed 2020 Olympics, while the one-day Paris-Roubaix bike race on October 25 was also scrapped.
But in a rare display of sporting normalcy on Sunday, New Zealand and Australia will play the first round of rugby since the onset of the pandemic in front of a packed crowd, largely without masks, in Wellington.
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