Spanish PM’s wife tests positive for Covid-19 after Madrid imposes national lockdown to tackle the disease

Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez’s wife, Begona Gomez, has tested positive for the deadly coronavirus, the government has confirmed. It comes after the Iberian country entered lockdown, with a ban on all non-essential movement.

Both Gomez and her husband, the prime minister, are feeling well, Sanchez’s office reported Sunday night.

The news comes shortly after Sanchez unveiled what he described as “drastic” and “extraordinary” measures as part of the state of emergency to fend off the spread of the disease that has so far claimed at least 193 lives across the country, and infected over 6,250.

The restrictive measures, which will last at least 15 days and might be extended further, envision a ban on all travel within the country except for work, medicine or in case of emergencies.

Citizens, who are strongly encouraged to stay indoors and work from home if possible, will still be able to stock up on necessary supplies and groceries, but all restaurants, bars, hotels and non-essential retail outlets will shut their doors.

Students will also be staying put in their homes with educational centers being ordered to close.

Spain has become yet another major European country to go to great lengths to curb the spread of the virus, which originated in China’s Wuhan in December last year.

Italy, the nation that has borne the brunt of the pandemic in Europe – the new hotbed of the disease, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) – has been in lockdown since Tuesday.

Germany’s capital, Berlin, meanwhile, has ordered all public venues, including museums, bars and brothels to close their doors to visitors in an attempt to contain the virus.

While France has also shut down all entertainment, most of the shops, schools, nurseries, universities and day care centers, the French as well as the German federal authorities have been reluctant to impose stricter border controls inside the EU despite the measure being widely considered an effective way of stopping the disease.

French President Emmanuel Macron, in particular, spoke in defense of open borders, stating that the coronavirus “has no passport.”

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