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Spain begins the week as the previous one ended: looking with concern at the general growth of almost all the indicators that measure the spread of the second wave of the coronavirus. Since last Monday, more than 46,000 cases have been diagnosed (13% more than the total) in the country, which already has 405,000 positives since March.
- Confirmed cases of coronavirus in Spain and in the world
Madrid continues to be the center of all eyes and has added more than 15,000 cases to those it had a week ago, a growth of 16.1% (to 108,000 accumulated). In the community there are 300 more hospitalized patients than last Thursday (when the Ministry of Health began to offer detailed data), which represents an increase of 24% in just five days to 1,544 admitted. This figure represents 12% of the total capacity of hospitals in the region. Those treated in the ICU are 165, 31% more than on Thursday.
The Community decided this Sunday to confine the small municipality of Tielmes (2,600 inhabitants), a measure that according to the Ministry of Health may not be the last that it is necessary to adopt. “It is true that in other municipalities, those that are part of the greater metropolitan Madrid, it is more difficult to apply this type of measure, but of course if the incidence continues to increase, drastic measures will have to be taken. I do not know if it will be a confinement or of another type without restricting perimeter mobility. I am sure that the Community of Madrid has all the options on the table ”, declared the director of health emergencies in his appearance before the media this Monday.
- Catalonia prohibits social gatherings of more than 10 people and Murcia limits them to six
One of the few good news is that growth is slowing in those communities that were in the worst situation, such as Aragon and part of Catalonia, which shows that if more PCR tests are carried out and more contacts are traced, it is possible to illuminate the most pessimistic of the scenarios. Although the cost is to gradually increase restrictions of less depth, such as those announced this Monday by the president of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Quim Torra. Meetings of more than 10 people are prohibited from now on in this community, except for reasons of transport, work and, in a few days, educational.
But the situation is clearly getting worse in much of the rest of the country, especially in areas that started from a better epidemiological situation. The best example is Murcia, which since Thursday has seen the number of patients admitted to the ICU tripled (up to 31), hospital admissions grew 131% and positive ones 25%. All this has led the regional government to limit the number of people in social gatherings to six.
The hit of the pandemic has also increased notably in the Balearic Islands (43% more than hospitalized), the Canary Islands (30% more hospitalizations and 69% of ICU admissions), Castilla-La Mancha (45% more admissions) and Castilla y León (26%). These last two communities, however, register lower increases than the previous ones (around 10% per week) in new diagnoses, which seems to indicate that the contagion control measures are taking effect. Experts explain that hospitalizations and mortality begin to grow two to three weeks after the cases do.
The indicators remain at better records in Cantabria, Asturias, Galicia, Extremadura and, although they have also started to increase, in Andalusia. In the Basque Country, the situation remains complicated and adds 16% more positives in a week, 21% more hospitalizations since Thursday (up to 404, 10% of the capacity of the health network) and 37% more than Admissions to the ICU (up to 37) also since Thursday.
“An upward trend is maintained in a large part of the communities, but it is true that in some a stabilization of the number of cases and weekly incidents is being observed,” said Fernando Simón.
Big data from across the country largely continues to reflect a troubling trend. The incidence in the last 14 days, one of the variables most used to compare the situation between countries, continues its upward climb and is now 166 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
On the other hand, the number of people who have begun to suffer symptoms in the last two weeks is slightly reduced, which on Friday (Health does not offer data on weekends) were almost 21,659 and today slightly less than 21,000. This data is also carefully observed by experts to follow the evolution of the epidemic, since it offers a more recent indicator, and this decline after many days of rise is in principle positive. There are days, however, to be able to assess whether the change in trend is solid.
The death data (96 in the last seven days and 34 more than on Friday) do not seem illustrative, since they are still lower than those offered by the communities and that the overall Health count continues to suffer from a certain delay in this section.
Simón has predicted that this coming fall and winter there will be fewer colds and flu cases thanks to the obligation to wear a mask. "We will continue to take it, thereby reducing the risk," said the director of health emergencies, who recalled that seasonal flu is greatly influenced "by how it evolves in the [countries of the southern hemisphere]" in which the flu "is very controlled."
Regarding the return to school, Simón has admitted that the opening of the classrooms can make "the virus spread more easily", although he has referred to the meetings planned between the central government and the communities -ministries and health ministries and Education- so that "they can return to school with sufficient security measures so that they do not pose a risk to the population."
Information about the coronavirus
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- Guide to action against the disease
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