Spain To Institute Nationwide Lockdown Over Virus

The Associated Press reports:

Spain decided Saturday to follow Italy in declaring a nationwide lockdown to slow the accelerating spread of the coronavirus epidemic, Spanish media reported. Spain’s decision came as European countries took ever more severe, though widely varying, measures to reduce contact between their citizens and slow the pandemic. China — where the virus first emerged late last year — continued to ease up lockdown measures in its hardest-hit region.

According to a copy of the royal decree seen by The Associated Press, Spain’s government was to announce Saturday that it is placing tight restrictions on movement for the nation of 46 million people while declaring a two-week state of emergency. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez was due to address the nation in the afternoon. Health authorities in Spain said Saturday that coronavirus infections have reached 5,753 people, half of them in the capital, Madrid.

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