Catalan authorities concerned about possible spread of Covid-19 from Madrid
Madrid limits mobility and restricts gatherings to six people
The Catalan authorities are concerned about a possible impact on the situation of Covid-19 in Catalonia due to the worsening of conditions in the Madrid region.
The health public secretary, Josep Maria Argimon, said that the growth of cases and the fact that the outbreak risk has skyrocketed in Spain's capital could affect the whole of the EU member state.
"It can affect a lot of places because Spain is radial and also because the communication Madrid–Barcelona is very fluid and it has to continue to be fluid," he said in an interview with the public broadcaster Tv3.
In his opinion, Madrid "has it bad" because the virus "is spread very communally" there.
Later on Friday, Madrid announced mobility restrictions for 37 different health regions, as well as a ban on gatherings of more than six people.
President asks for 'responsible decisions'
On Wednesday, the Catalan president, Quim Torra, suggested that the Madrid regional government make "responsible decisions" to cope with the disease.
For him, "it was not easy" to impose another lockdown in the Lleida county, Segrià, western Catalonia, but the result now is that this area is below the Catalan average in outbreak risk.
Compared Covid-19 data between Catalonia and Madrid
According to a weekly report by the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC), as of September 16 the Madrid region's outbreak risk was at 783 points earlier this week, while Catalonia's was 151 as of September 17 - the threshold of 'high' risk is at 100, and 'very high' at 200. The Spanish average is at 358.
Also on September 17, there were 2,850 people hospitalized in the Spanish capital region due to Covid-19, almost four times the number in Catalonia (768).
There was also a gap between those in ICUs in Madrid (392) and in Catalonia (135), despite the latter having a larger population (7.61 million) than the former (6.66 million).