Barcelona, July 13 (RHC)-- Hundreds of thousands of Catalonia residents were ordered back into lockdown on Sunday as coronavirus cases spiked in the Spanish region and new figures showed infections accelerating in many other parts of the world.    

The government of Catalonia region told residents in and around the northeastern town of Lerida to go back into home confinement.  "The people must stay at home," regional health official Alba Verges said.     

The area, with a population of more than 200,000, had already been ordered isolated from the rest of the region last weekend.

It marks the first time that Spaniards have been kept in their homes since the hard-hit country exited confinement on June 21.