HEALTHPLAN MAGAZINE

Spain’s Health Ministry released the latest coronavirus report on Tuesday evening. It reflected the increase in Covid-19 deaths that are a direct result of the third wave of the pandemic.

The figures that were supplied by the Ministry, showed a further 724 victims of the virus had been added to the overall death toll representing the highest daily increase since the first wave began back in spring last year.   

This figure is also only slightly lower than the figure of 762 that was released on Monday. This figure combines deaths from Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

When looking at the progressive number of deaths from Covid-19 over the previous week, which is the most trusted measure given that unusual spikes often occur, the figure surpassed 3,000 deaths in seven days for the first time on Tuesday. This is more than triple the 956 deaths that were reported on January 4.

Since the pandemic began at the beginning of 2020, the Spanish Health Ministry has recorded 59,805 official Covid deaths. The real figure is however much higher and this is because of the lack of testing that was available at the starting point of the coronavirus crisis.

The statistics for the number of new infections are however far more promising. Data on Tuesday reported a total of 29,064 positive cases, which is the first time the total has fallen below 30,000 since January 12.

As for the seven-day accumulative figures for new infections, 222,052 was the total in Tuesday’s report. This validated a downward trend that started on January 26, when it excelled 259,000.

Since January 15, this data has exceeded 200,000. This indicates that the transition of the rise and fall of the virus is very slow and gradual. It also indicates that any spike in cases will break the trend.

The confirmed number of coronavirus cases in Spain is currently 2,851,869 and at the current rate, by the beginning of next week, the number is likely to exceed 3 million.

More positive news is that vaccinations are continuing across the country and according to the Health Ministry, as of yesterday, a total of 1,673,054 doses were administered.

Travel Restrictions Tightened

Spain has announced that from Wednesday it will restrict all air arrivals from South Africa and Brazil in a bid to reduce the spread of new coronavirus variants.

Government spokeswoman Maria Jesus Montero said at a news conference, that only Spanish nationals, legal residents and neighbouring Andorra would be allowed in from both of these countries.

Those passengers stopping in Spain on their way to another country may still do just that but they must remain in the airport terminal at all times and for no longer than 24 hours.

These new rules will take effect on Wednesday and will remain in place for two weeks but will be extended if needed, depending on how the pandemic evolves.

Madrid already has a ban on arrivals by sea and air from Britain, except for residents or nationals of Spain and Andorra. This has been in place since the end of December and was put in place because of the finding of a new strain of the coronavirus in the UK last year.

This new strain is one of several variants that have been detected since the pandemic began back at the beginning of 2020.

Another strain that is known as E484K, was initially identified in South Africa, with subsequent variants being found in Japan and Brazil. Researchers have raised their concerns over the variants possible impact on immunity.

Spain, like many other countries, has been hit hard by the pandemic, having so far recorded nearly 60,000 deaths from more than 2.8 million cases, this includes 350 from the strain found in the UK.

Sources

https://english.elpais.com/society/2021-02-03/spain-adds-724-covid-deaths-to-official-toll-the-highest-figure-since-the-first-wave.html
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/spain-tightens-travel-restrictions-as-deaths-surge/2131866
https://www.thelocal.es/20210202/spain-restricts-travellers-freom-brazil-and-south-africa-over-virus-fears