Spain extends lockdown

The Spanish government this weekend opted to impose stricter confinement measures on residents of Spain in a bid to halt the spread of the coronavirus. PM Sánchez announced the halt of all non-essential activities starting today, Monday March 30, until Thursday April 9.

“We are doing this now because we’re about to enter the Easter holidays, so we can more aggressively cut down on social contacts and, therefore, hospital admissions and the pressure on Intensive Care Units,” Pedro Sánchez told in a press conference.

The new restrictions were announced after authorities confirmed the deaths of 832 coronavirus patients in the previous 24 hours, a record daily death toll in the country.

Although the rate of new infections was slowing, a peak in ICU patients would not arrive until late next week.

Which activities are considered to be essential?

Essential services are those considered necessary for the maintenance of basic social functions (health, security, social and economic wellbeing of citizens), or the efficient working of the institutions of state and public administrations, such as the health sector, security forces, telecommunications and the power sector.

Among the essential workers are those already included in the March 14 decree, which put the state of alarm into place: grocery retailers, pet food vendors, food-delivery business, as well as all companies supplying products and services to the essential activities, such as those that guarantee the stock of foodstuffs and drinks.

The Ministry of Agriculture has distributed a press release clarifying that “Agricultural, livestock, aquaculture, as well as fishing activity, agricultural and fishery processing industry, veterinary hospitals, transport and distribution of food, as well as its marketing through retail sale to the consumer make up the food supply chain whose activity must be guaranteed in the state of alarm”.

Several sources