Spanish Catalonia region orders bars, restaurants shutdown for 15 days

The Spanish region of Catalonia ordered on Wednesday the closure of bars and restaurants for 15 days from Thursday and limited the opening of shops and parks to try to curb a surge of diagnosed coronavirus cases, the regional acting chief Pere Aragones said. Restaurants will be allowed to offer take-away services and delivery, he said.

With close to 900,000 registered cases and more than 33,000 deaths, Spain has become the pandemic's hotspot in Western Europe. The capital Madrid and nearby suburbs were put on partial lockdown last week.

Also Read: 'You cannot lock down everybody' Madrid tells Spanish government in COVID spat