Spain Urged To Lock Down Completely

While some on the fringes of UK media and politics try and advance the idea that the lockdown response to the Coronavirus pandemic should be eased or even lifted completely, the situation in mainland Europe suggests the opposite: that existing lockdowns may not be sufficient, and should therefore be tightened.

Italy has been locked down for some weeks now, and in Spain, which entered lockdown over the weekend of the 14th of March, another record daily death toll from Covid-19 has been posted: 849 poor souls lost their lives there in the past 24 hours. There will be no easing of the lockdown; indeed, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has already extended that period from the 29th of March to the 12th of April.

Moreover, I am now told that the Spanish lockdown will continue at least until the end of April, maybe beyond. Its conditions are more severe than those in the UK, as AS has reported: “Spain's lockdown bans its residents from leaving the house for all but essential reasons, such as buying food and medical supplies, or travelling to work or to hospital. Other countries that have adopted such measures, for example the UK, allow their citizens to go out for limited exercise - but this is not the case in Spain”.

So it was no surprise to also read “Among those to fall foul of the authorities was Real Valladolid footballer Pedro Porro: the on-loan Manchester City player was fined 600 euros this week after driving 15km from his home to go shopping in the centre of Valladolid”. Anyone feeling hard done by at being stopped by the Police from driving to see relatives, or head for the nearest beauty spot, should take note.

Plaza de Cibeles, Madrid

Now, a letter to the Lancet has suggested that the Spanish lockdown should be tightened. Having modelled the potential spread of the virus, a group of experts has concluded “The model suggests that the actions taken to date … will be insufficient to prevent hospitals and intensive care units from being overwhelmed over the coming weeks. The foreseen collapse of the health system, along with the age distribution of the Spanish population (ie, 18% of people aged ≥65 years), suggests a potentially high mortality rate associated with COVID-19 in the country”. So what action do they advocate?

“According to our models, the current state is associated with a very high risk of saturation of our health system, which is expected to last from March 26 to April 24, 2020 … Therefore, we urge the Spanish Government to implement, as swiftly as possible, more drastic measures to minimise the impact of the pandemic on the Spanish population”.

This means “For example, type A areas (≥100 cases per 10 [to the power 5] inhabitants in the past 7 days) implement a complete shutdown of the region and citizen lockdown, except for essential services (eg, hospitals, health care, and research centres) for a minimum period of 15–21 days”. These areas would include Madrid and Catalonia.

For all those expats hosting barbecues - charcoal is selling well in parts of Spain right now, which is a bit of a giveaway - things could be about to get properly serious. And they could give Brits a hint as to what awaits them - if they don’t follow the lockdown rules.

Coronavirus is not just something other people catch. Now behave yourselves.

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