Coronavirus: Madrid urges residents to stay within city despite no lockdown

Madrid’s regional leader on Thursday urged all residents to remain within the city limits despite a bombshell court ruling overturning a partial lockdown affecting 4.5 million people.

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“We ask people once again not to leave Madrid and to follow all the health recommendations, especially in the next few days given that there is a long weekend,” said regional president Isabel Diaz Ayuso, whose administration had strongly opposed the measures imposed on Friday night.

The restrictions had imposed a 14-day ban on people leaving the limits of the capital and nine other surrounding towns where instance of the virus is very high.

Madrid’s top regional court on Thursday rejected a partial lockdown imposed at the weekend on the capital and nine nearby towns to slow the rapid spread of coronavirus infections.

A court statement said it “had denied the ratification (of the measures) on grounds they impacted on the rights and fundamental freedoms” of the 4.5 million residents affected by the closure which went into force on Saturday.

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