Downward trend in covid-19 infections 2:33
(CNN Spanish) -
Spain on Tuesday exceeded 3 million positive cases of covid-19 after adding 16,402 new infected to the official count in the last hours.
The number is registered almost a year after the Government of Spain notified the first case of coronavirus in the country, reported on January 31, 2020 on the Island of La Gomera, in the Canary Islands.
The new figure reached is the result of a pandemic that has accelerated the rate of spread through three waves of infections.
The first million infected was reached on October 21, eight months after registering the initial case.
The national global count surpassed the second million just two and a half months later, on January 7, 2021. Just 33 days later, the official statistics exceed the three million mark.
The speed with which the total number of infected in Spain has risen is explained, in part, due to the progressive increase in testing capacity in the population.
According to the Ministry of Health, the rate of covid-19 diagnostic tests carried out in Spain until April 23, 2020 was 22 tests per 1,000 inhabitants.
Meanwhile, this past February 4, it already reached 635 exams per 1,000 inhabitants.
Fears related to the variants of covid-19 in Spain
The fear of the health authorities is that the number of infected will continue to grow uncontrollably as the new variants spread through the territory.
It is even concerned that these could be responsible for a fourth wave of infections, said Fernando Simón, director of the Center for the Coordination of Health Alerts and Emergencies on Monday.
If it occurs, vaccination would reduce its progression since "there will be more immune population," said Simón.
However, he clarified that it also depends on the number of immunized people.
As Simón declared in previous weeks, the British variant could be the dominant one in Spain as of March, reaching "40 or 50% of the space" of daily cases.
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Spain is currently in a context of containment of the third wave, with a downward trend in the cases reported on a daily basis.
With the data provided this Tuesday, the number of deaths in Spain from covid-19 amounts to 63,061 after adding 766 new deaths in the last 24 hours.
coronavirusCovid-19