Coronavirus in Spain full update (22 March) – lockdown extended

Official figures released by the Spanish Health Ministry at 12 noon on Sunday 22 March now confirm 28,572 known cases of Coronavirus (Covid-19) in Spain, which is 3,646 more than yesterday. 1,720 people are now also known to have died from the pandemic in Spain (up by 394 from yesterday). There are 15,554 people in hospital, of which 1,785 are in intensive care. 2,575 people have now made a full recovery.

Of the official figures announced, 9,702 confirmed cases are known to be in the Madrid region.

There are now 4,704 cases in Catalonia, 2,097 in the Basque Country, 1,725 in Andalusia, 1,819 in Castilla La Mancha, 1,604 in Valencia.

Figures for other regions are as follows: Aragón 532, Asturias 545, Balearic Islands 331, Canary Islands 414, Cantabria 282, Castilla y León 1,744, Extremadura 384, Galicia 915, Melilla 25, Murcia 296, Navarra 794, La Rioja 654.

This report is being updated throughout the day with the main news related to Coronavirus in Spain below. Official statistics will only be updated in our reports published just after noon each day.

Over 300,000 infections have now been confirmed worldwide, with the situation increasingly grim in Italy where the death toll spiked to more than 4,800 — over a third of the global total.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced a closure of all non-essential factories in a late-night TV address on Saturday.

In Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez broadcast an update on Saturday evening, giving further details about what his government is doing to combat Coronavirus.

On Sunday morning he also held a video-conference with all regional presidents across Spain, in which it was confirmed that the country would be extending its lockdown for at least another 15 days, to include the Easter weekend.

The lockdown had originally been due to end on 27 March. The new measure will need to be approved by the Spanish Congress, possibly as early as Monday.

Sánchez warned the people of Spain that ‘the worst is yet to come’, after the figures on Saturday revealed that there had been more than 1,300 deaths from Covid-19, and that the number of confirmed cases had reached close to 25,000.

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‘We have yet to receive the impact of the strongest, most damaging wave, which will test our material and moral capacities to the limit, as well as our spirit as a society,’ said Sánchez on Saturday evening.

Sánchez said Spain had not lived through such a situation since its 1936-39 civil war, in which around half a million people died. Drawing parallels to a war economy, he said his government was working on plans to produce in Spain the equipment needed to battle Coronavirus, such as masks.

The Spanish government stated on Saturday that it had purchased 640,000 tests that are able to detect whether someone has coronavirus or not in 15 minutes, as well as 700 respirators.

It also stated that it will be distributing some 500,000 facemasks among medical professionals and another 800,000 to patients.

Reflecting on the past seven days under lockdown, the socialist (PSOE) prime minister said that the Coronavirus pandemic ‘is a catastrophe that humanity wasn’t prepared for. These seven days have changed us. We look upon all life near to us as life at risk. We have changed how we view our neighbors, who are no longer seen as strangers. This crisis is bringing out the best in us.’

‘We are fighting an enemy that we are getting to know bit by bit,’ he said. ‘As we get to know it, we are changing how we fight it. Spain has followed the advice of international experts. We have been applying the strategy of the WHO (the World Health Organization) to win the time needed to improve the resistance of our healthcare system, and so that science can find a vaccine.’

Below are the numbers to call for each region of Spain for information and assistance in the event of possible cases of Coronavirus – as issued by the Spanish health authorities.

Click here for further information (in Spanish) regarding Coronavirus from the Spanish Health Ministry.