Spaniards allowed outdoors to exercise after 7 weeks

Spaniards took to the streets on Saturday to exercise for the first time after seven weeks of confinement to their homes during the coronavirus lockdown.

People ran, walked, and rode bicycles under a brilliant sunny sky in Barcelona, where many flocked to the maritime promenade to get as close as possible to the still off-limits beach.

Others jogged around parks and along sidewalks across the nation.

The government has set up time slots for age groups and activities.

People between 14 and 70 years old can now go out for individual exercise and couples in that age group who live together can go for walks from 6. a.m. and 10 a.m. (0400GMT and 0800GMT) and between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. (1800GMT and 2100GMT).

People over 70 can go out from 12 p.m. and 7 p.m. (1000GMT and 1700GMT).

Children, who last week were the first allowed outside, can now go out with a parent between 12 p.m. and 7 p.m. (1000GMT and 1700GMT).

Until now, adult Spaniards have been kept inside except for necessary shopping trips for food and medicine, as well as unavoidable commuting to and from work.

Spain has 24,824 confirmed deaths from the COVID-19 virus and 215,216 confirmed infections.

The lockdown has succeeded in reducing daily increase of cases from more than 20% to under 1%.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, that clear up in two to three weeks.

For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and could lead to death.