08/21/2020 - 12:51
- Clarín.com
- World
Two months after lifting the strict confinement with which it managed to tame the expansion of the coronavirus, Spain is once again in the eye of the health storm . As of August 20, the country has the fastest growing infection rate in Europe: over the last two weeks, it has an average of 142 positives per 100,000 inhabitants .
If we go back to June 21, Spain had between 100 and 150 cases per 100,000, and that figure was on the decline. The death toll, on the other hand, is not rising with the same acceleration. Over the past week, she added 122 deaths, far from the 950 she suffered in just one day, on April 2.
But the situation is already beginning to worry the authorities. After registering 3,349 new cases on Thursday, of which a third were from Madrid, the director of the Center for the Coordination of Health Alerts and Emergencies, Fernando Simón, changed his normally calm tone for a much more forceful one.
Coronavirus in Spain
Source: Johns Hopkins University Infographic: Clarín
The contagion figures are the same that Spain counted at the end of March, when the curve climbed looking for its maximum peak.
"Make no mistake. Things are not going well . We have transmission and every day it grows. It cannot be said that the epidemic in Spain is out of control, but there are some specific points where it is. It is time to stop. We have to take everything very seriously again, "he said, according to the newspaper La Vanguardia .
According to specialists, there are at least three factors that explain the reason for this significant increase in cases in the country.
Meetings of young people
The bulk of current patients are young, and about 75% are asymptomatic. The reason for this turn has to do with a specific factor: the resumption of events and social gatherings, a fact that Simón made clear in his presentation.
“The contagion right now is associated with nightlife . I'm not telling young people not to have fun, but there are ways to have fun without putting anyone at risk. It is not about criminalizing, but about taking a step further, "he explained.
Nightlife has been identified as one of the reasons for the rise in cases. Photo: Bloomberg.
There are, however, differences that mean that the situation is not as dramatic as in the months of April and May. According to the BBC, only 3% of cases have required hospitalization, less than 0.5% must be transferred to intensive care, and the mortality rate is close to 0.3% .
"Mortality is very low, as is the hospitalization rate. Something has changed, although the increase is still worrying, " Ildefonso Hernández, professor of public health at the Miguel Hernández University of Alicante, told the BBC.
"As the cases continue to increase, we have to think that a second wave is on the way. We do not have much time to react before the return to the routine of September," he completed.
Coronavirus in Europe
Source: Ourworldindata Infographic: Clarín
Simón, for his part, put a lot of emphasis on defending the return to school: " We cannot have our children without studying , we cannot mortgage the competitiveness of our promotions as children."
Simón surprised with something so far unusual in his presentations: he asked the influencers for help . “You know that I don't have much to do with social networks, but I know what an influencer is . All those who have any possibility of influencing the population, including myself because I have a certain visibility, must make people aware of what to do, and not what not to do ”.
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Although the beaches have avoided the most ferocious outbreaks, Catalonia has registered a rate of infections slightly above the national average, with 145 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
Swallow workers
The site most affected by this second wave is Aragón, the capital of Zaragoza, which currently has a rate of 500 infected per 100,000 inhabitants .
While the city has become an epicenter of community broadcasting over the past few weeks, experts note that the problems actually started in the early summer .
The starting point of the problem was the return of the seasonal workers, who arrived in the city just for the beginning of the harvest period.
Swallow workers in the agricultural sector have also been identified as a factor in the rise in cases. Photo: AFP.
Businesses that harvest and pack fruits and vegetables have come under heavy criticism for failing to provide facilities to house workers. This forced them to stop in the same camps, or in overcrowded shelters with poor sanitary conditions.
"Everything that is happening in Aragon is related to outbreaks among fruit pickers . Those responsible should have anticipated the problems that could arise due to the housing problems of these workers," Juan González Armengol, president of the Spanish Society of Emergency and Emergency Medicine (Semes).
Worst of all is that more than 55 nursing homes in Aragon have registered cases since the state of emergency was lifted in June.
Lack of trackers
The lack of trackers is a problem that in Spain has already been indicated as something urgent to solve. Madrid had fewer than 200 contact trackers at the end of July. The authorities had pledged to double that amount, a figure that was even half what the medical community recommended .
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Watch the special"Among the factors that explain the high infection figures we are seeing, the quality of Spanish democracy is playing an important role. If accountability were stricter, it would not be acceptable for some regions, and not just Madrid, to delay. so much in implementing measures ", declared Ildefonso Hernández, professor of public health at the Miguel Hernández University of Alicante, to the BBC.
Source: BBC and La Vanguardia
AP