MADRID (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th July, 2020) The Spanish government is backing Catalonia's decision to reimpose a strict lockdown on 160,000 people living in parts of the Segria county amid a surge in coronavirus cases, Spanish Health Minister Salvador Illa said on Tuesday.
Earlier in the month, the regional government in Spain's Catalonia decided to quarantine a part of the Segria county, including the city of Lleida, amid an increase in COVID-19 cases. A local judge ruled the decision to be unlawful as the local outbreaks are under control, and only the Spanish government can implement such measures. The local government has said that the lockdown would be reimposed despite the court ruling.
"In this phase, autonomous communities should be in control of the situation, and they, in general, are successful. They know the real situation with outbreaks on their territory," Illa said during a press conference in Madrid, adding that the government agrees with the Catalonian authorities on the need to impose tougher restrictions in Segria.
Illa added that the Health Ministry was ready to assist the Catalan government if needed. According to the health minister, it is necessary to make fast decisions, identify COVID-19 clusters and respond to the outbreaks as soon as possible.
Spain has registered 120 local coronavirus clusters since June 21, when the state of emergency was lifted.
Overall, Spain, one of the worst-hit European countries, has confirmed over 256,000 coronavirus cases and more than 28,000 related deaths since the start of the outbreak. At the same time, according to the health ministry's study, more than five percent of the population has COVID-19 antibodies.
