Spain’s Catalonia mandates use of masks outdoors

Students wearing face masks sit at their desks keeping social distance, ahead of a selectivity exam at the Autonomous University of Barcelona on Tuesday, July 7, 2020, in Sabadell, outside Barcelona, Spain. The European Union’s executive arm forecasts that the bloc’s economy will contract more than previously expected because of the coronavirus pandemic, which has caused lockdowns on business and public life that are only slowly being eased. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

MADRID — Spain’s northeastern Catalonia region will make mandatory the use of masks outdoors even when social distancing is maintained.

Regional chief Quim Torra said the measure will be implemented from Thursday following outbreaks in and around the city of Lleida that have led to the lockdown of more than 200,000 residents since Saturday.

Some 500 infections in Lleida have so far been linked to the summer fruit harvest, which attracts many migrant laborers.

Spain has made masks mandatory in shared indoor spaces and also outdoors when a social distance of 1.5 meters (5 feet) can’t be kept. Catalonia, population 7.5 million, is the first region to mandate the use of masks regardless of distancing.

Nationwide there have been 118 small outbreaks since May 11, 67 of them currently active. Spain has had 252,130 confirmed infections and at least 28,300 people have died.