MADRID (Reuters) – Some 4.8 million Madrid residents will be barred from leaving the area from Friday evening, making it the first European capital back into lockdown due to surging coronavirus cases. A man has a swab sample taken for a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) antigen test at a cultural centre in the working class neighbourhood of Vallecas in Madrid, Spain October 1, 2020. REUTERS/Sergio Perez Restaurants and bars in the Spanish capital and nine satellite towns will shut early and slash capacity by half in what has again become Europe’s worst infection hotspot. The new restrictions, to start at 10 pm (2000 GMT), are not as strict as the previous lockdown from March, when people were barred from leaving their homes. However, authorities advised residents not to move around unless absolutely necessary. “Madrilenos” were exasperated at political wrangling between the central and regional governments, and anxious about whether the […]