Authorities in the Spanish capital of Madrid have issued a host of new guidelines to curb the spread of COVID-19 that targeting citizens' private lives and occasions
MADRID (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th September, 2020) Authorities in the Spanish capital of Madrid have issued a host of new guidelines to curb the spread of COVID-19 that targeting citizens' private lives and occasions.
According to the new guidelines, voiced by Health Minister of the Community of Madrid Enrique Ruiz Escudero, wedding guests are henceforth not allowed to dance, drink while standing as is traditional at Spanish weddings or frequent bar stands serving alcohol. The authorities also extended the 10-person limit on public gatherings to private spaces.
"We should avoid family and friendly visits because there we relax ... A maximum of 10 people can gather not only in public but also in private places," Escudero said at a briefing in Madrid.
Escudero added that the guidelines will be reviewed every 15 days to issue a community-wide lockdown if the epidemiological situation deteriorates.
The guidelines take aim at the younger and more socially active citizens of the city, who are now seen as the drivers of infection transmission. According to health authorities, 70 percent of new infections occur among people aged 15-59. The average age of a COVID-19 patient in Madrid is now 38.
Madrid remains the worst-hit area of the entire country, with over 14,000 COVID-19 cases registered in the past seven days, more than a third of Spain's 46,000 total.
Spain, the European Union's worst-affected country, saw a significant drop in new cases over May and June before infections picked back up in the previous two months, forcing authorities to hybridize mitigation measures to avoid another nationwide lockdown.
The Spanish Health Ministry has so far registered over 488,000 COVID-19 infections, with a staggering 29,234 deaths.
