Madrid to Shut Border for Traffic for 10 Days in December

(Bloomberg) -- Madrid’s government will prevent traffic from entering or leaving the region from Dec. 4 to Dec. 14 in its latest step to control Covid-19 infection rates.

The move is aimed at limiting expected increased traffic volumes linked to public holidays on Dec. 7-8, the regional administration said Friday via Twitter.

While other Spanish regions have sought to curb infections by imposing stricter measures on movement, Madrid’s regional government is focusing its Covid-19 containment strategy on temporary border closures, a curfew and partial lockdowns in districts with the highest number of cases.

Catalonia, where the country’s second-largest city Barcelona is located, is poised to ease containment steps it had put in place in recent weeks. They included ordering bars and restaurants to close and a curfew.

Madrid recorded 1,132 new infections on Thursday, almost 800 less than in Catalonia, according to health ministry data.

Vaccine Strategy

With the total number of cases in the country close to 1.4 million since the pandemic began, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Friday that the government would unveil a national vaccination plan on Nov. 24.

Spain will seek to vaccinate a substantial part the population in the first half of 2021, he said.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.