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Coronavirus in Spain full update (16 April)

Click here for today’s full report: Coronavirus in Spain (4 May)

ALSO READ: Lifting of lockdown in Spain – full details of all phases

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Report below updated in Spain at 15.15h on Thursday 16 April.

The latest official figures released by Spain’s Health Ministry at 12h on Thursday 16 April confirmed 182,816 known cases of Coronavirus (Covid-19) in Spain, 5,183 more than yesterday.

Wednesday’s figure had shown an increase of 5,092 over Tuesday – already an increase compared to the recent daily trend in the rate of new infections. Tuesday’s figure had seen an increase over Monday of 3,045 – the lowest daily increase since 20 March. 

19,130 people have now died from the pandemic in Spain, up by 551 on yesterday.

Wednesday had seen an increase in daily deaths of 523 over Tuesday. Tuesday had seen an increase of 567 over Monday.

74,797 people have now made a full recovery.

Of the official figures released, 50,694 confirmed cases are known to be in the Madrid region, and where 6,877 have died (from the total 19,130 across the country).

According to the official figures from Spain’s Health Ministry, there are now 37,354 cases in Catalonia and 3,855 deaths there – but there has since been a change in the method of collating data, so these figures will certainly increase [see below].

There are 11,790 known casesin the Basque Country (956 deaths), 10,807 in Andalusia (912), 15,151 in Castilla La Mancha (1,796) and 9,615 in the Valencia region (972).

Figures for those infected with Coronavirus in other regions are as follows: Aragón 4,566 (543 deaths), Asturias 2,170 (168 deaths), Balearic Islands 1,637 (131), Canary Islands 1,988 (107), Cantabria 1,845 (137), Castilla y León 14,380 (1,372), Ceuta 100 (4), Extremadura 2,881 (359), Galicia 7,873 (359), Melilla 103 (2), Murcia 1,598 (111), Navarra 4,348 (261) and La Rioja 3,916 (257).

Change in method of collating data

A change in the method of collating data across Spain on Wednesday is set to see a surge in the number of recorded deaths caused by Coronavirus (Covid-19).

In Catalonia, for example, the health department is now also counting the daily information provided by funeral homes, which since the beginning of the crisis have seen 7,097 deaths, to include people who have died in hospitals, residences, nursing homes, as well as at home.

Previously Catalonia’s health department only counted figures from people who had died in hospitals. That number had been 3,756 on Tuesday and 3,855 on Wednesday (as above, released officially today by Spain’s Health Ministry).

Please note that the new data has not yet been included in the official figures released by the Spanish Health Ministry on Thursday.

The Spanish Health Ministry has also not been giving complete figures for the number of people in intensive care units (ICUs) for a week, because Spain’s regions have been using different methods to collate these figures.

The exact number of deaths from Coronavirus in Spain could also be higher, since health authorities previously admitted that only those who died after testing positive have been included in 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 during the reports issued on Saturday and Sunday.

ALSO READ: Coronavirus in Spain full update (15 April)

Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez visiting El Corte Inglés garment workshops in Madrid on 15 April 2020, where they are making face masks. (Pool Moncloa / Borja Puig de la Bellacasa)

GLOBAL OVERVIEW

US President Donald Trump has said that the USA is past the worst of the Coronavirus pandemic and that he will announce guidelines for reopening the country on Thursday.

Confirmed cases of Coronavirus have surpassed 635,000 in the USA and over 2m worldwide. There have now been over 30,000 deaths in the USA from the virus.

Anthony Fauci, the White House scientific expert, previously said that parts of the USA could possibly begin easing restrictions in early May, but warned that reopening the nation would not function like a ‘light switch’.

With the global economy plunged into its worst recession for a century, the G20 nations have announced a one-year debt standstill for the world’s poorest nations as they struggle to deal with the Coronavirus pandemic.

The G20 also reiterated the pledge to deploy ‘all available policy tools’ to deal with the health and economic crisis caused by Covid-19.

ALSO READ: Open Arms refugee NGO helping to combat Coronavirus

The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday that a Covid-19 vaccine may be the only thing that can bring back normality to the world.

An elderly care-home resident being tested in Catalonia. (Photo courtesy of Catalan health department / CatSalut / @salutcat)

‘A safe and effective vaccine may be the only tool that can return the world to a sense of “normalcy”, saving millions of lives and countless trillions of dollars,’ he said during a video conference.

Meanwhile in the UK, a 99-year-old World War II veteran, captain Tom Moore, has raised more than £12m for frontline NHS workers by walking laps of his garden. On Thursday he completed 100 lengths of his 25-metre garden in time for his 100th birthday at the end of the month.

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CORONAVIRUS in SPAIN

Pedro Sánchez seeks cross-party pact

Defending his government’s handling of the Coronavirus pandemic during a session in the Spanish Congress on Wednesday, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said that since the start of the ‘state of alarm’ lockdown, the increase in new daily infections had dropped from 35% to around 3%.

Sánchez said that he hoped that the Spanish people will be able to return to normal life ‘in the near future’, although he also warned that ‘as a result of Covid-19, nothing will be the same until a vaccine is discovered’.

The Spanish prime minister said that his priority was ‘the total defeat of Covid-19’ and proposed achieving this through a cross-party accord with Spain’s opposition parties, as well as with the regional governments, local authorities, trade unions, social and civil groups across Spain.

Pedro Sánchez speaking in the Spanish Congress on 15 April 2020, with his second deputy PM, Pablo Iglesias, alongside. (Photo: congreso.es)

Sánchez insisted that putting the general interest of Spain over party interests would facilitate the implementation of the social and economic reconstruction plan that both the country and the whole eurozone would require, as reflected in the latest forecasts from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the magnitude of the crisis.

Sánchez also said that those who have died from Covid-19 ‘will receive their due recognition’ once the virus has been defeated.

The cross-party pact that Sánchez is seeking to deal with the economic and social after-effects of the Coronavirus crisis would be along the lines of a ‘Moncloa Pact’.

The Moncloa Pact of 1977, named after the Spanish prime minister’s official residence, the Moncloa Palace in Madrid, saw political parties, the business community and trade unions agree on a plan to solve Spain’s economic problems and help its transition from a dictatorship under Franco to a modern democracy.

Responding to his proposals for a pact in Congress on Wednesday, Pablo Casado, the leader of Spain’s main opposition party, the right-wing People’s Party (PP), said, ‘If you want an agreement, and I doubt you do, let’s reach one in the clear light of day in Congress.’ By this, Casado was referring to continuing a debate on any possible pact, rather than separate meetings that Sánchez has proposed for Thursday.

The far-right Vox party MP Juan Luis Steegman, accused Spain’s Health Minister, Salvador Illa, of turning Spain into a mortuary. ‘In this mortuary that you have turned Spain into, there are thousands of people who have died without the PCR [Covid-19 tests],’ he said, also adding that many elderly people had died from the disease in residences without any proper testing.

Further extension of lockdown planned

Sánchez is also expected to officially request the authorisation from the Spanish Congress next week for an extension to the current ‘state of alarm’ lockdown in Spain until Sunday 10 May. He will do so during a debate to be held in the Spanish Congress on Wednesday 22 April. 

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. These initial 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 after Easter.

Since Monday of this week, industrial and construction workers, as well as non-essential employees in sectors where working from home isn’t possible, have started a gradual return to work.

Police and local authorities have been handing out face masks at metro and train stations, as well as at bus and tram stops.

The Spanish government has asked citizens travelling to work to wear face masks in public places and on public transport, where possible, and to continue the ‘social distancing’ of standing one or two metres from other people.

Students to get pass grades

Spanish Education Minister Isabel Celaá has announced that an agreement has been reached with regional governments to grant a passing grade to all students in early education, to include primary, secondary and the first year of pre-university studies. Teachers will decide the exact scores each student gets, however, based on their progress and marks during the first two terms.

Students have been confined to their homes for a month due to the coronavirus pandemic, with schools conducting online classes with mixed success, depending on resources available.

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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.

The numbers to call for each region of Spain.

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

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 (15 April)

ALSO READ: Open Arms refugee NGO helping to combat Coronavirus

ALSO READ: Coronavirus in Spain full update (14 April)

ALSO READ: When can La Liga restart?

ALSO READ: Coronavirus in Spain full update (13 April)

ALSO READ: Coronavirus in Spain full update (12 April)

ALSO READ: Coronavirus in Spain full update (11 April)

ALSO READ: Coronavirus in Spain full update (10 April)

ALSO READ: Coronavirus in Spain full update (9 April)

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ALSO READ: Lockdown in Spain set to be extended until 26 April

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Editor’s note: 

At Spain in English we’re always keen to also publish positive stories and features about life in Spain – not just the current news. With all cultural and sporting events currently on hold, as well as travel and gastronomic excursions, we welcome on-going contributions from all of you who’d like to send us articles for publication. Although we are unable to currently pay for contributions, we will certainly credit you and share the articles across our social media network (if of interest) – and/or also link to your own blogs or other sites. We currently welcome upbeat, positive and fun articles – perhaps how you’re coping with the ‘lockdown’ in your own area of Spain – or how your community is responding, or recommendations of help to others. We have a dedicated ‘Opinion, Blogs & Spanish Experiences‘ section where your articles will appear. We will edit for clarity and length only – and we reserve the right to not publish. Articles should be sent via email to editorial@spainenglish.com (preferably with a photo and credit details), and should be around 500 words (800 to 1,000 max). We will try to respond to everyone, but please be patient with us. We’re a very small team but with big ambitions! Please stay safe. Thank you for reading and following us.

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