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Coronavirus in Spain full update (5 May)

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Report below updated in Spain at 19h on Tuesday 5 May

CORONAVIRUS in SPAIN – today’s figures

The latest official figures* released by Spain’s Health Ministry in Madrid at 11.15am on Tuesday 5 May confirm that 25,613 people have now died from the pandemic in Spain, up by 185 on yesterday.

Monday had seen an increase of 164 Coronavirus-related deaths over Sunday – the lowest since 18 March. Sunday had also been an increase of 164 over Saturday. Saturday had been 276.

The current peak of recorded deaths related to Coronavirus in a 24-hour period in Spain was on 2 April, when 950 deaths were registered.

The current official figures released daily by the Spanish Health Ministry are for the total number of people who have only tested positive for Coronavirus through a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test. That figure for Tuesday 5 May is 219,329 – an increase of 867 over yesterday.

A total figure also released by the ministry today, however, for those who have tested positive through PCR and antibody testing is 250,561 (219,329 PCR; 31,232 antibody).

Monday’s figure for the increase in infections tested only through PCR had been 356 over Sunday. Sunday had been an increase of 838 over Saturday for those confirmed by PCR testing. The equivalent figure for Saturday had been 1,147.

The current peak of recorded infections for a 24-hour period in Spain was on 31 March, when 9,222 new cases were registered (including from PCR and other testing).

121,486 people have now made a full recovery.

With regards the official figures released by the central Health Ministry for each region of Spain, there have been discrepancies in the data released independently by some of those regions, particularly for Madrid and Catalonia. Please refer to *Health Ministry data and regional discrepancies below.

Of the official figures released by the ministry today – and based only on the total 219,329 confirmed cases through PCR testing – there are now 62,989 cases in the Madrid region and where 8,420 have died (from the total 25,613 across the country). There are now 50,771 cases in Catalonia and where 5,270 have died.

There are now 12,965 known cases in the Basque Country (1,353 deaths), 12,210 in Andalusia (1,267), 16,080 in Castilla La Mancha (2,616) and 10,500 in the Valencia region (1,279).

Figures for those infected with Coronavirus in other regions are now as follows: Aragón 5,207 (770 deaths), Asturias 2,308 (284 deaths), Balearic Islands 1,910 (198), Canary Islands 2,231 (142), Cantabria 2,207 (198), Castilla y León 17,429 (1,832), Ceuta 101 (4), Extremadura 2,852 (462), Galicia 9,051 (573), Melilla 119 (2), Murcia 1,496 (136), Navarra 4,936 (471) and La Rioja 3,967 (336).

A full breakdown in Spanish of the data per region, together with age group statistics can be found by clicking here. Please also see Health Ministry data and discrepancies below.

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Ángel Garrido, responsible for transport and mobility for the Comunidad de Madrid regional government, showing the instructions to wear face masks on the Metro in Madrid on 4 May 2020. (metro madrid.es)

CORONAVIRUS in SPAIN – latest updates

Yesterday Spain officially commenced Phase Zero of the government’s ‘four phase’ de-escalation plans to lift the current Coronavirus lockdown restrictions. It has now become compulsory to wear face masks on all public transport in Spain.

Some restaurants and cafés in Spain also reopened on Monday, but only for people to collect food, or for a takeaway delivery service.

Businesses such as bookshops, hardware shops, hairdressers and ‘workshops’ also reopened, but for visits by appointments only. Only one customer can be served by one employee at a time. Some regions are permitting stores of up to 400 metres in size to reopen – but for customers with an appointment only.

Preference hours at these establishments are being given to people aged over 65 in Spain. Restrictions for professional sports have also been lifted from Monday. Individual training sessions are now allowed, without time limits. Players in professional leagues are also now allowed to train individually at their clubs.

Since the weekend, restrictions in Spain have also been relaxed to allow adults to take daily walks and exercise. Restrictions had already been relaxed from Sunday 26 April for children to be able to take daily accompanied walks for an hour.

We have published all the key rules and guidance for walks and exercise (for both adults and children) in a separate report, together with all details of the Four Phases of the Spanish government’s plans for the lifting of lockdown measures. It is being regularly updated when new measures are officially announced. The report can be found here: Lifting of lockdown in Spain – full details of all phases

‘State of alarm’ extension not guaranteed

Spain’s socialist (PSOE) Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is to officially seek a further extension to the current ‘state of alarm’ lockdown in the country during a debate in the Spanish Congress this Wednesday 6 May. But it is not guaranteed that he will succeed.

Sánchez announced on Saturday that he will seek an extension to the lockdown for a further 15 days until 25 May.

Pablo Casado, the leader of Spain’s main opposition party, the right-wing People’s Party (PP), has stated that ‘as things currently stand’, his party will not support the extension.

Pedro Sánchez is the head of the socialist PSOE party and currently leads a coalition government in Spain with the left-wing Podemos group.

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. After one week, these initial measures were then extended until 12 April, then for a second time until 26 April – and then until 9 May.

A minute’s silence was held in the Spanish Congress before the start of the session on 9 April 2020, to pay respect to the victims of Covid-19. (Photo Spanish Congress / congreso.es)

During the overall lockdown period, from Monday 30 March until after Easter, further measures were introduced ordering all non-essential workers in Spain to also remain at home. Following the Easter break, industrial and construction workers, as well as non-essential employees in sectors where working from home wasn’t possible, started a gradual return to work.

With the relaxing of restrictions for children from Sunday 26 April – after 43 days confined at home – they were allowed out for an hour accompanied by a parent, guardian or elder sibling, to walk, run, cycle, scooter or play. From Saturday 2 May – after 48 days in confinement – adults across Spain were allowed out to walk and exercise during set time slots. Now Spain is in the initial Phase Zero of the Spanish government’s ‘four-phase de-escalation plan‘ to relax lockdown restrictions over a maximum 8-week period.

Pedro Sánchez is first seeking to extend the ‘state of alarm’ in Spain for a further two weeks until 25 May – and then possibly one or two weeks further again – during this de-escalation period.

During the last debate held in the Spanish Congress on 22 April to extend the lockdown until 9 May,  Sánchez received fierce criticism for his government’s handling of the Coronavirus crisis during the debate.

Pablo Casado, leader of the PP, demanded that Sánchez should ‘apologise for his mistakes’ and that the Spanish people were fed up with the government of Sánchez being full of self-pride, ‘incompetence and lies’.

‘Do you think that by not counting the dead [from Coronavirus], that they disappear like when children cover their eyes?’ said Casado. ‘Why do you hide the deceased? Why don’t you publish the actual figures? Why do you not recognise any of your errors?’

Santiago Abascal, leader of Spain’s far-right Vox party, accused Sánchez of being responsible for ‘the worst health management’ in the world against Coronavirus.

Unemployment figures rise

Latest figures released shows that the number of unemployed people in Spain is now 3,831,203 – representing an increase of 7.87% and 282,891 more people during April.

Compared to the same month last year the number rose by 667,637 people, a jump of 21.10%.

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

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*Health Ministry data 

Since 24 April, the Spanish Health Ministry changed its criteria for presenting its Coronavirus statistics each day, to only include the number of infections of those tested via PCR (polymerase chain reaction).

Previously, the ministry had also stipulated to Spain’s regional health authorities how the overall data should be collated, as some regions had been using different methods to collate their own figures.

In Catalonia, for example, the regional health department had only previously been counting figures for those who had died from Coronavirus in hospitals. This was then changed to include figures for those who had also died in nursing homes, social health centres or elderly residences, as well as at home.

Following discrepancies in the way that data has been collated, the Spanish government published an order in its Boletín Oficial del Estado (BOE) to clarify the criteria that must be used.

All regions must now report deaths and intensive care unit (ICU) admissions in the same way. A victim can only be counted in the death tally if they have tested positive for Covid-19 via a PCR (polymerase chain reaction testing) or rapid test.

Spanish Health Minister Salvador Illa

The Health Ministry has also requested that each region send in the total number of infections divided into symptomatic and asymptomatic cases. In addition, they also require the number of PCR tests carried out from each region, the total number of people that have required hospital treatment, including intensive care, as well as the number of patients who have been discharged.

Salvador Illa, the Spanish Health Minister, said that, ‘Spain is following a very strict definition of cases in line with international authorities, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Anyone who tests positive for Covid-19 and then dies is considered a Coronavirus fatality’.

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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.

The numbers to call for each region of Spain.

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:

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ALSO READ: Coronavirus in Spain full update (4 May)

ALSO READ: Coronavirus in Spain full update (2 May)

ALSO READ: Coronavirus in Spain full update (1 May)

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ALSO READ: Opinion: why bullfights should stay cancelled after Covid-19

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