Chaos in Madrid, as regional government denies health chief’s announcement of new lockdowns

Sources close to the Madrid regional premier, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, backtracked on Wednesday after her deputy health chief, Antonio Zapatero, announced that stricter coronavirus measures would be introduced in parts of the region this coming weekend in a bid to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Speaking this morning, Zapatero told reporters that “action is needed as soon as possible,” adding that new decisions are being taken to “restrict mobility and the concentration of people.” The health chief added that “more drastic” measures were needed, “in line with what people could understand as selective lockdowns according to basic healthcare areas or healthcare areas with higher infection rates,” he said, referring both to the capital city and the Madrid region as a whole.