Report updated in Spain at 12.25h on Friday 10 April.
The latest figures released by the Spanish Health Ministry at 11.30am on Friday 10 April now confirm 157,022 known cases of Coronavirus (Covid-19) in Spain, a daily increase of 4,576 – but another decrease in the rate compared to Thursday’s figure of 5,756. Wednesday had seen an increase of 6,108 over Tuesday.
15,843 people have now died from the pandemic in Spain, up by 605 – the lowest daily increase since 24 March.
Thursday’s increase in deaths had been 683. Wednesday had seen an increase of 757 over Tuesday – and Tuesday had been 743 over Monday.
There is good news in that 55,668 people have now made a full recovery, which is 3,503 more than yesterday.
Of the official figures announced, 44,783 confirmed cases are known to be in the Madrid region, and where 5,972 have died (from the total 15,843 across the country).
There are now 31,824 cases in Catalonia (3,231 deaths), 10,103 in the Basque Country (729 deaths), 9,510 in Andalusia (691), 13,063 in Castilla La Mancha (1,431) and 8,331 in Valencia region (796).
Figures for those infected with Coronavirus in other regions are as follows: Aragón 3,831 (409 deaths), Asturias 1,799 (121 deaths), Balearic Islands 1,488 (97), Canary Islands 1,858 (94), Cantabria 1,659 (102), Castilla y León 11,102 (1,129), Ceuta 91 (4), Extremadura 2,332 (288), Galicia 6,946 (243), Melilla 95 (2), Murcia 1,383 (90), Navarra 3,748 (218) and La Rioja 3,076 (196).
The true number of deaths from Coronavirus in Spain could be higher, since health authorities have admitted that only those who died after testing positive have been included in the official death toll.
Some regional authorities have warned that the number of death certificates issued, particularly for those who have died in residential homes, is higher than the official death toll.
There have also been issues with the timing of statistics sent to Madrid’s Health Ministry from each region, particularly during the weekend periods. Figures issued on Tuesdays by the ministry have sometimes reflected statistics not taken into account from the weekend.
ALSO READ: Coronavirus in Spain full update (9 April)
GLOBAL OVERVIEW
The global death toll from Coronavirus (Covid-19) passed 94,000 on Thursday – although authorities in worst-hit Europe and the USA said that a slight decline in daily deaths and infections gave signs of hope that the crisis was peaking.
16.8m people in the USA have filed claims for unemployment benefits during the past three weeks, due to the labour impact of the Coronavirus pandemic. Stay-at-home orders have closed most non-essential workplaces in 42 states practically halted the USA economy. On Thursday, the USA death toll from Covid-19 surpassed 16,500.
New York state alone accounts for nearly half the total deaths in the USA, and the nation leads the world in the total number of known infections at more than 460,000.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has compared the crisis to 9/11, which killed almost 3,000 people, most of them at the World Trade Center in Manhattan.
‘9/11 was so devastating, so tragic, and then in many ways we lose so many more New Yorkers to this silent killer,’ said Cuomo on Thursday. ‘It was a silent explosion that just ripples through society with the same randomness, the same evil that we saw on 9/11.’
In the UK, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, perhaps the highest profile of the 1.5m people infected by the virus to date, was moved out of an intensive care unit, yet he remains in hospital in London. The UK announced another 881 deaths on Thursday, taking the total there to nearly 8,000.
European Union finance ministers agreed a 500bn euro rescue package on Thursday for European countries hit hard by the Coronavirus pandemic, but set to one side a proposal from Italy, Spain and France for a joint borrowing instrument, sometimes dubbed a ‘coronabond’, that would have raised money towards a recovery after the outbreak
CORONAVIRUS in SPAIN
Spanish Congress votes to extend lockdown
The Spanish Congress in Madrid voted late on Thursday to extend the current ‘state of alarm’ lockdown in Spain until 26 April – at least.
Speaking in the parliament chamber on Thursday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said that even after this current extension ends on 26 April, he is ‘convinced’ that he will have to ask for yet a further 15 days, which could prolong the end of the lockdown until Sunday 10 May.
Around 40 Spanish MPs were present in the parliament for Thursday’s debate and vote, with the other votes cast digitally. A total of 270 MPs voted for the extension, 54 against, with 25 abstentions.
The voting followed a fierce debate during Thursday on the Spanish government’s handling of the Coronavirus pandemic.
The session had started with a minute’s silence in the half-empty Spanish Congress to pay respect to the victims of Coronavirus.
Sánchez, of the PSOE socialist party, said, ‘We are aware of the sacrifice that a second extension entails, but we know it is essential to consolidate our gains. We are starting to see light at the end of the tunnel, but we need to make this new effort to get out of that tunnel.’
Pablo Casado, the leader of the right-wing People’s Party (PP), the main opposition party, told Sánchez that the country deserves ‘a government that does not lie to them. The dead, their families, infected people, hospitalized people, health workers, people in confinement, they all deserve it. We need politicians who take responsibility and do not blame others for their mistakes.’ The PP voted in favour of the lockdown extension, based on the party’s ‘ethics of responsibility’, said Casado.
Gabriel Rufián of the pro-independence Esquerra Republicana (ERC) party said, ‘We will support some of the economic and social measures, even if we view them as insufficient and recentralising. You are still allowing people to commute to work. It doesn’t make sense for millions of children not be allowed out to play while the cities are full of riders delivering trays of sushi to people.’
Santiago Abascal, leader of the far-right Vox party, criticised Sánchez and his second deputy PM, Pablo Iglesias of the left-wing Podemos group, for the ‘tragedy’ affecting Spain’s health workers and the economy.
‘You are responsible for the highest coronavirus mortality rate in the world, and that’s despite the suspicious official figures, which are likely to turn out to be the greatest hoax in this entire tragedy, the greatest lie,’ said Abascal, referring to the issues that the Spanish Health Ministry has had in collating the real figures from all the regions of Spain.
Spain originally commenced its lockdown for two weeks from 14 March, with measures that confined everyone to their homes apart from leaving to purchase food or medication, or to go to their place of work only if they could not perform their duties from home. The measures were then extended until 12 April.
From Monday 30 March, further new measures ordered all non-essential workers in Spain to also remain at home until today, Thursday 9 April inclusive, thereby only returning to work after the Easter weekend (Friday 10 and Monday 13 April are holidays in most regions of Spain).
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.
Up-to-date WHO advice and facts (in English) about the Coronavirus epidemic can be found here: www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/technical-guidance.
Our previous reports on Coronavirus in Spain:
ALSO READ: Coronavirus in Spain full update (9 April)
ALSO READ: Coronavirus in Spain full update (8 April)
ALSO READ: Coronavirus in Spain full update (7 April)
ALSO READ: Coronavirus in Spain full update (6 April)
ALSO READ: Coronavirus in Spain full update (5 April)
ALSO READ: Coronavirus in Spain full update (4 April)
ALSO READ: Lockdown in Spain set to be extended until 26 April
ALSO READ: Coronavirus in Spain full update (3 April)
ALSO READ: Coronavirus in Spain: unemployment figures worst on record
ALSO READ: Coronavirus in Spain full update (2 April)
ALSO READ: Coronavirus in Spain full update (1 April)
ALSO READ: Coronavirus in Spain full update (31 March)
ALSO READ: FC Barcelona players agree to 70% pay cut, and will ensure staff receive 100%
ALSO READ: Coronavirus in Spain full update (30 March)
ALSO READ: Coronavirus in Spain full update (29 March)
ALSO READ: Coronavirus in Spain full update (28 March)
ALSO READ: Coronavirus in Spain full update (27 March)
ALSO READ: Coronavirus in Spain full update (26 March)
ALSO READ: Animal rights NGO starts petition against possible state aid for cancelled bullfights
ALSO READ: Spain publishes list of hotels that will remain open
ALSO READ: Coronavirus in Spain full update (25 March)
ALSO READ: Coronavirus in Spain full update (24 March)
ALSO READ: Video of boy training as goalkeeper in isolation goes viral
ALSO READ: The new restrictions at Spain’s airports, ports and land borders
ALSO READ: Coronavirus in Spain full update (23 March)
ALSO READ: Madrid starts receiving patients at IFEMA exhibition centre ‘hospital’
ALSO READ: Confirmed: lockdown extended until at least 11 April
ALSO READ: Coronavirus in Spain full update (22 March)
ALSO READ: Walking a goat or a Vietnamese pig is not allowed
ALSO READ: Coronavirus in Spain – full advice for British travellers seeking to return to the UK
ALSO READ: Coronavirus in Spain full update (21 March)
ALSO READ: Coronavirus in Spain full update (20 March)
ALSO READ: ‘This virus we will stop together’ – video
ALSO READ: Coronavirus in Spain full update (19 March)
ALSO READ: Despite lockdown, Spaniards applaud health workers from balconies every evening
Editor’s note:
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