'Air on your face': Spanish children get outside for first time in six weeks under coronavirus lockdown
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Six-year-old Kilian wearing a face mask as he jumped exuberantly outdoors after Spain on Sunday lifted curbs partially for children aged under 14 during the coronavirus outbreak.
PHOTO: REUTERS
THE KIDS ARE OUT
MADRID • On foot and with bicycles, skateboards and scooters, Spanish children went outside at last this week, emerging from their homes for the first time after six weeks of living under one of Europe's strictest coronavirus lockdowns.
The relaxation on Sunday came as Spain, one of the countries worst hit by the global Covid-19 epidemic, registered its lowest daily increase in the coronavirus death toll in more than a month. It was a first step as the government plans a gradual process of easing restrictions.
Children aged under 14 were allowed outside for the first time since the government declared a state of emergency on March 14 and shut down most public life and economic activity. Children wearing protective masks strolled the streets in Madrid.
Nine-year-old Lucia Ibanez, out for a walk with her mother, said she had missed the streets and the park and "feeling the air on your face" during lockdown.
"I never thought I would miss school but I really miss it," she said.
The children were granted one hour of daily supervised outdoor activity, while adhering to social-distancing guidelines and staying within 1km of their homes.
Schools remain closed.
But some local authorities complained that parents were allowing their kids to flout the rules, and TV footage showed large crowds gathering in parks and on boardwalks across the country.
Spain recorded a slight rise in the number of coronavirus deaths, by 331 to 23,521 in the 24 hours through yesterday, compared with Sunday's increase of 288 - the lowest in more than month. Total confirmed cases rose 1,831 to 209,465, according to Health Ministry data.
Last Saturday, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced that Spaniards of all ages would be allowed to exercise outdoors from May 2 if the coronavirus toll continues to fall.
He also said his Cabinet would approve today a wider plan to lift restrictions and gradually restart the country's stuttering economy.
Meanwhile, in Norway, children from first to fourth grades returned to schools for the first time since mid-March, while a range of small businesses, including hairdressers, were allowed to open.
"I feel like a burden has been lifted," said Mr Abi Qadar, a 36-year-old artist, after dropping off his seven-year-old daughter at school in central Oslo. "It was tough."
REUTERS, BLOOMBERG
