Note to readers: EL PAÍS openly offers essential information on the coronavirus during the crisis.
If you want to support our journalism,
subscribe here
.
More than half a million people have died from covid-19 in the United States since the beginning of the pandemic, according to figures published this Monday by Johns Hopkins University, a reference center on the matter. The country surpassed the threshold of 400,000 deaths just a month ago, on January 19. The Ministry of Health has reported 20,849 new cases of coronavirus and 535 deaths since Friday. The cumulative incidence falls to 252 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, the lowest of the year, although Spain has been on the verge of leaving the extreme risk rating. On a day in which some communities have begun to abolish some measures, the director of the Center for the Coordination of Health Alerts and Emergencies, Fernando Simón, has warned that an "excessive" relaxation can once again endanger the healthcare pressure . Galicia has announced the reopening of the hotel industry and will allow non-cohabiting meetings, with a maximum of four people. Only 17 municipalities will maintain the current limitations. Thus, like La Rioja, which, after a month, lifts the perimeter closure by municipalities and reopens commerce and hotels. Castilla y León, for its part, will extend the hours of non-essential activity and the terraces from Friday until 9:30 p.m., half an hour before curfew. Murcia has decided to expand to four the number of non-cohabiting people who can meet and abolish the closure at 8:00 p.m. as of Wednesday, although it maintains the touch that remains between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. throughout its territory. Restrictions are also relaxed in other countries following the decline in incidence. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that as of March 8, schools and school sports will reopen in the open air.