Coronavirus live news: record 77,300 new daily infections in US; Barcelona residents told to stay home after cases rise

Following the earlier reports of partial and voluntary lockdown in Barcelona, Guardian journalist Stephen Burgen reports on the response in the city.

Meritxell Budó, the Catalan government spokeswoman, urged people not to travel to their second homes for the weekend. The measures mirror those recently introduced in L’Hospitalet, a a large satellite town on the southern edge of Barcelona, as well as in Lleida and the surrounding rural area in north-west Catalonia.

Budó said “the pandemic is advancing without cease” and said people “have to follow all the measures taken by the regional government”. She called for “personal and collective commitment”.

Strictly speaking the lockdown can only be advisory in the absence of a state of emergency, which can only be imposed by central government. The state of emergency was lifted on June 21.

Furthermore, the recommendations are confusing and apparently contradictory. People are being asked to stay at home but bars and restaurants remain open, albeit with a limited capacity. Children’s summer schools are also allowed to stay open.

The only absolute prohibition imposed is on meetings of more than 10 people in the street, but even this will have to be ratified by a judge.

The measures have been introduced after the regional health department said that 1,293 new cases had been recorded in Catalonia in the past 24 hours, a figure similar to that recorded in March at the height of the pandemic. In the course of a week the number of cases in Barcelona has tripled.