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‘They don’t confine the rich’: Hundreds protest partial lockdown in Madrid’s low-income barrios

Hundreds of people protested in Madrid on Sunday against partial lockdown measures imposed on parts of the region, mainly in densely populated low-income neighbourhoods, to curb a surge in coronavirus cases.

Published: 27 September 2020 15:20 CEST
'They don't confine the rich': Hundreds protest partial lockdown in Madrid's low-income barrios
A protester holds a sign reading "It is not confinement but segregation". Photos: AFP

Since September 21 some 850,000 people have been confined to their neighbourhoods and unable to leave except for work, school or medical reasons although they are able to move freely within their own areas.

Parks in the affected areas are closed and restaurants and other businesses must shut at 10 pm.

From Monday another 167,000 people in the region of some 6.6 million people will be confined to their neighbourhoods.

“It's not confinement, it's segregation!” the crowd chanted outside of the parliament of the regional government of Madrid in the southern district of Vallecas, one of the mainly southern neighbourhoods affected by the partial lockdown measures which came into effect last week.

Protesters called for the resignation of conservative Madrid regional leader Isabel Diaz Ayuso, who drew criticism for saying that the “lifestyle” of people in the affected areas was partly to blame for the rise in Covid-19 cases.

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“They don't confine the rich,” was among one of the signs on display at the protest which drew groups young people, retired couples and young parents pushing baby strollers.

The Madrid measures fall short of a demand by Spain's leftist central government, which has urged the region to impose city-wide restrictions, a view shared by many of the protesters.

“It makes no sense that you can go to work in a wealthier area but can't go have a drink. Infections are rising everywhere, the rules should be the same for everyone,” Marcos Ruiz Guijarro, a 27-year-old electrician who went to the rally with a group of friends, told AFP.

Many demonstrators complained that the regional government was failing to improve public healthcare or doing anything to address the problem of an overcrowded transport system where they said the virus could easily spread.

Madrid and the surrounded region is at the epicentre of a second wave of coronavirus that is sweeping Spain. The virus has claimed over 31,000 lives and infected over 700,000 in Spain, the highest infection rate in the European Union.

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COVID-19

Public Health Agency recommends two Covid doses next year for elderly

Sweden's Public Health Agency is recommending that those above the age of 80 should receive two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine a year, once in the spring and once in the autumn, as it shifts towards a longer-term strategy for the virus.

Published: 23 December 2022 10:53 CET
Public Health Agency recommends two Covid doses next year for elderly

In a new recommendation, the agency said that those living in elderly care centres, and those above the age of 80 should from March 1st receive two vaccinations a year, with a six month gap between doses. 

“Elderly people develop a somewhat worse immune defence after vaccination and immunity wanes faster than among young and healthy people,” the agency said. “That means that elderly people have a greater need of booster doses than younger ones. The Swedish Public Health Agency considers, based on the current knowledge, that it will be important even going into the future to have booster doses for the elderly and people in risk groups.” 

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People between the ages of 65 and 79 years old and young people with risk factors, such as obesity, diabetes, poor kidney function or high blood pressure, are recommended to take one additional dose per year.

The new vaccination recommendation, which will start to apply from March 1st next year, is only for 2023, Johanna Rubin, the investigator in the agency’s vaccination programme unit, explained. 

She said too much was still unclear about how long protection from vaccination lasted to institute a permanent programme.

“This recommendation applies to 2023. There is not really an abundance of data on how long protection lasts after a booster dose, of course, but this is what we can say for now,” she told the TT newswire. 

It was likely, however, that elderly people would end up being given an annual dose to protect them from any new variants, as has long been the case with influenza.

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