Isha Sesay
THE Government of the Balearic Islands has announced that it will order the closure of all ‘non-essential services’ in Mallorca due to a surge in coronavirus cases.
The closures will come into force from January 12 and stay in place until at least January 26.
Under the new measure, only essential services will be available to the public, such as supermarkets and pharmacies.
Unessential services, including bars, restaurants, spas, gyms, clothes shops and shopping centres will be closed.
Announcing the drastic measures at a press conference, President Francina Armengol said the island was at ‘extreme risk of contagion’ and that the closures were ‘absolutely necessary’.
She said: “We recognise that this is very tough but we are attempting to stop a wave of contagion that is currently spreading through the island.”
It comes as intensive care units in Mallorca have reached breaking point as the number of COVID-19 cases skyrocket.
This week, the Balearic Department of Health warned that the ‘pressure on hospitals continues to advance at a devastating rate’ due to a record number of patients in the ICU.
At present, the COVID-19 incident rate stands at 636.1 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
In the last 24 hours, there have been 485 new cases in Mallorca and 707 in the Balearic Islands.
This is the highest number recorded since the start of the pandemic.
