Authorities in Madrid want to hire more doctors and get urgent help from Spain’s military and police to fight a second wave of coronavirus infections that might force them into expanding restrictions on free movement that are already controversial.
The Spanish capital needs Spain's central government to relax regulations so it can hire 300 additional doctors from outside the European Union, regional vice-president Ignacio Aguado said Wednesday.
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Authorities in Madrid want to hire more doctors and get urgent help from Spain’s military and police to fight a second wave of coronavirus infections that might force them into expanding restrictions on free movement that are already controversial.
“The situation is not going well, neither in Spain nor in Madrid," Aguado told a press conference.
But faced with a “sustained increase” of cases in the region of 6.6 million, according to its deputy health chief, Antonio Zapatero, the regional government is considering expanding those controls to other areas.
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A local police officer talks with a woman at a checkpoint in the Vallecas neighborhood in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020. Health authorities in Madrid, Europe's hotspot in a second wave of coronavirus infections this year, might extend controversial restrictions on free movement from the hardest-hit areas of the Spanish capital to others that are emerging with increasingly higher rates of contagion. (AP PhotoManu Fernandez)
Commuters wearing face masks to prevent the spread of coronavirus travel inside a bus at Vallecas neighborhood in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020. Health authorities in Madrid, Europe's hotspot in a second wave of coronavirus infections this year, might extend controversial restrictions on free movement from the hardest-hit areas of the Spanish capital to others that are emerging with increasingly higher rates of contagion. (AP PhotoManu Fernandez)
View of Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020. Madrid is poised to extend its restrictions on movement to more neighborhoods, due to a surge in new cases in other districts and despite an outcry from residents over discrimination. Police on Monday deployed to 37 working-class neighborhoods that have seen 14-day transmission rates above 1,000 per 100,000 inhabitants. (AP PhotoBernat Armangue)
Madrid also wants central authorities to erect military tents as makeshift facilities to host virus testing, wants soldiers to disinfect public buildings and wants 222 national police deployed by Monday to help enforce quarantines and restrictions in hard-hit areas.
A waiter wearing a face mask and behind a plastic curtain to prevent the spread of coronavirus serves a coffee at a bar in the southern neighbourhood of Vallecas in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2020. Madrid is poised to extend its restrictions on movement to more neighborhoods, due to a surge in new cases in other districts and despite an outcry from residents over discrimination. Police on Monday deployed to 37 working-class neighborhoods that have seen 14-day transmission rates above 1,000 per 100,000 inhabitants. (AP PhotoBernat Armangue)
“The situation is not going well, neither in Spain nor in Madrid," Aguado told a press conference.
Madrid has seen rate of 772 infections per 100,000 inhabitants in 14 days, nearly three times the national average of 287. In contrast, the European average last week was 76 cases per 100,000 people over 14 days.
Nearly 860,000 Madrid residents are already required to justify trips out of 37 neighborhoods, mostly working-class areas where locals have complained that the coronavirus restrictions are stigmatizing the poor.
Local police stop vehicles at a checkpoint in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020. Madrid is poised to extend its restrictions on movement to more neighborhoods, due to a surge in new cases in other districts and despite an outcry from residents over discrimination. Police on Monday deployed to 37 working-class neighborhoods that have seen 14-day transmission rates above 1,000 per 100,000 inhabitants. (AP PhotoBernat Armangue)
But faced with a “sustained increase” of cases in the region of 6.6 million, according to its deputy health chief, Antonio Zapatero, the regional government is considering expanding those controls to other areas.
A final decision on new restrictions, including new possible limits on customers in restaurants, will be announced Friday, Zapatero told reporters.
Other areas in Spain are also seeing an increase in new virus cases. The country recorded 241 new virus deaths, bringing its confirmed death toll to 30,904. Experts say all numbers understate the true toll of the pandemic, due to limited testing and missed cases.
A local police officer stops a car at a checkpoint in the Vallecas neighborhood in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020. Health authorities in Madrid, Europe's hotspot in a second wave of coronavirus infections this year, might extend controversial restrictions on free movement from the hardest-hit areas of the Spanish capital to others that are emerging with increasingly higher rates of contagion. (AP PhotoManu Fernandez)
Follow AP’s pandemic coverage at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
A woman wearing a face mask to prevent the spread of coronavirus walks through the Vallecas neighborhood in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020. Health authorities in Madrid, Europe's hotspot in a second wave of coronavirus infections this year, might extend controversial restrictions on free movement from the hardest-hit areas of the Spanish capital to others that are emerging with increasingly higher rates of contagion. (AP PhotoManu Fernandez)
A local police officer talks with a woman at a checkpoint in the Vallecas neighborhood in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020. Health authorities in Madrid, Europe's hotspot in a second wave of coronavirus infections this year, might extend controversial restrictions on free movement from the hardest-hit areas of the Spanish capital to others that are emerging with increasingly higher rates of contagion. (AP PhotoManu Fernandez)
Commuters wearing face masks to prevent the spread of coronavirus travel inside a bus at Vallecas neighborhood in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020. Health authorities in Madrid, Europe's hotspot in a second wave of coronavirus infections this year, might extend controversial restrictions on free movement from the hardest-hit areas of the Spanish capital to others that are emerging with increasingly higher rates of contagion. (AP PhotoManu Fernandez)
View of Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020. Madrid is poised to extend its restrictions on movement to more neighborhoods, due to a surge in new cases in other districts and despite an outcry from residents over discrimination. Police on Monday deployed to 37 working-class neighborhoods that have seen 14-day transmission rates above 1,000 per 100,000 inhabitants. (AP PhotoBernat Armangue)