By Alyssa McMurtry
OVIEDO, Spain (AA) – Spain’s Galician region on Sunday announced that a popular coastal area will be placed under lockdown at midnight.
The quarantine in A Marina comes in reaction to a growing COVID-19 outbreak that has caused more than 100 confirmed infections so far.
The region, on Spain’s northern coast, is a popular tourist destination and home to around 70,000 people.
As soon as the lockdown comes into effect, no one will be able to leave or enter the area, except under exceptional circumstances, for the next five days.
The confinement will be lifted less than two days before Galicians are set to go to the polls in regional elections next Sunday.
The elections were originally scheduled for April 5 but were pushed back due to coronavirus.
Within A Marina, masks will be made mandatory in all public spaces, maximum occupancy will be reduced, gatherings will be limited to 10 people, and all bars and restaurants will have to close at midnight.
Jesus Vazquez Almuina, Galicia’s health minister, said in a press conference on Sunday that most of the COVID-19 cases found in the region have been mild or asymptomatic.
One worker at a nursing home has tested positive but it has not affected any residents so far. According to Vazquez, the most common age of those infected is 20 years old.
On Saturday, Catalan officials announced a local lockdown in the area surrounding the city of Lleida. Four counties in the region of Aragon are also in quarantine.
