People from Spain have entered lockdown nationwide. Quaranteed people have all gone to their balconies and showed their gratitude and appreciation of the medical staff working tirelessly across the country in order to control the coronavirus outbreak.
Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sanchez addressed the country on Saturday evening when he announced measures confining residents to their homes except for essential trips outside.
Just 10 minutes after the minister’s address, at 10pm, people across Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Pamplona went to their balconies or leaned from windows to applaud people who are working in health services.
Social Media has been full of footage of the unprecedented show of appreciation in Spain. Some of the captions on the videos were: aplauso sanitario, (I applaud the health services) and quedate en casa (stay at home).
This came after Italy’s quaranteed residents showed heartbreaking displays of national unity while all singing on their balconies as one.
Spain is now fifth from all the countries affected by the coronavirus. Because of the immense 24-hour rise on Friday of at least 1,500 new cases, Spain now has more than 6,000 confirmed cases of the virus.
The new government measures now only allow residents to leave their homes if they’re buying food and medicine, commuting to work, going to banks and hospitals, or taking care of the young and elderly.
Because of the new measures, all schools, universities, restaurants, bars, hotels and other non-essential retail businesses are now closed until further notice.
“From now we enter into a new phase,” Mr Sanchez told the nation on Saturday night. “We won’t hesitate in doing what we must to beat the virus. We are putting health first.
“We will [eventually] return to the routine of our jobs and again visit our friends and loved ones.
“Until that time comes, let’s not waste energies that are essential now. Let’s not lose our way,” he said, urging everyone to stay home.
Besides the people of Spain, appreciation for health care services workes was shown by the fire brigades who sounded their engines’ sirens at 10pm all across Madrid and Valladolid.
People across the streets were shouting “viva los medicos” (long live doctors), and people were turning the lights on and off in their homes to salute the front-line fighters of this virus.
?️ | Spain applauses doctors, nurses, and healthcare workers working during the covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, while our country starts a two weeks lockdown.#AplausoSanitario#HealthcareHeroes#COVIDー19#lockdownSpain
Video from Valencia ??? pic.twitter.com/LTGN8Tmbfc
— Lidia Contreras (en casa/at home ?) (@liconoc) March 15, 2020
