The Spanish region of Catalonia was today set to reimpose virus restrictions in the face of rising coronavirus infections, as the highly contagious Delta strain forced nations worldwide to put the brakes on a long-awaited return to normalcy.
The highly transmissible Delta variant, first detected in India, is sweeping the globe as countries race to inoculate their populations to ward off fresh outbreaks that are increasingly affecting the unvaccinated young.
After an "exponential" rise in cases in recent days, officials in the autonomous region in the northeast of Spain said they had no choice but to reimpose restrictions.