Coronavirus in Spain full update (9 May)

Latest: Coronavirus in Spain figures (21 May)

ALSO READ: Lifting of lockdown in Spain – full details of all phases, regions & provinces, plus what is permitted in each phase

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Report below updated in Spain at 12.15pm on Saturday 9 May

CORONAVIRUS in SPAIN – today’s figures

The latest official figures* for Coronavirus (Covid-19) released by Spain’s Health Ministry in Madrid at 11am on Saturday 9 May confirm that 26,478 people have now died from the pandemic in Spain, up by 179 on yesterday.

Friday had seen an increase of 229 Coronavirus-related deaths over Thursday. Thursday had been an increase of 213 over Wednesday. Wednesday had been 244.

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.

Official figures released daily by the Spanish Health Ministry are for the total number of people who have tested positive for Coronavirus only through a PCR test (polymerase chain reaction). That figure for Saturday 9 May is 223,578 – an increase of 604 over yesterday.

Friday’s figure for the increase of infections tested only through PCR had been 1,095 over Thursday. Thursday’s comparative figure had been 754 over Wednesday. Wednesday had been 685.

A total figure also released today by the ministry for those who have tested positive through PCR and antibody testing, however, is 262,783 (223,578 PCR; 39,205 antibody).

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 antibody).

133,952 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 223,578 confirmed cases through PCR testing – there have now been 64,523 cases in the Madrid region and where 8,598 have died (from the total 26,478 across the country). There have been 51,935 cases in Catalonia and where 5,507 have died.

There are now 13,111 known cases in the Basque Country (1,403 deaths), 12,298 in Andalusia (1,317), 16,278 in Castilla La Mancha (2,738) and 10,661 in the Valencia region (1,315).

Figures for those infected with Coronavirus in other regions are now as follows: Aragón 5,291 (823 deaths), Asturias 2,342 (293 deaths), Balearic Islands 1,944 (207), Canary Islands 2,250 (148), Cantabria 2,241 (201), Castilla y León 17,807 (1,885), Ceuta 110 (4), Extremadura 2,907 (477), Galicia 9,216 (591), Melilla 119 (2), Murcia 1,506 (138), Navarra 5,039 (487) and La Rioja 4,000 (344).

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.

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

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CORONAVIRUS in SPAIN – latest updates

The Spanish Health Ministry has announced what regions, provinces and also healthcare zones will move to Phase One on Monday 11 May – as well as those that must remain in Phase Zero.

Spanish Health Minister Salvador Illa and Fernando Simón, the director of the ‘Coordination Centre for Health Alerts and Emergencies’, announced the details in a press conference on Friday evening.

According to Illa, about 51% of Spain’s population will be in Phase One on Monday, during which further restrictions are lifted. Illa said that the transition plan is based on two pillars: co-governance with Spain’s regional authorities and a great deal of prudence.

The Spanish government has published the details for what is now permitted from Monday for people living in the regions and provinces during Phase One in its Boletín Oficial del Estado (BOE).

The key measures for Phase One are as follows:

• Up to 10 people can meet for social gatherings, either outside or in someone’s home, but social distancing measures must be respected between people who do not already live together.
• Small businesses will be able to open and serve customers, as long as health measures are in place
• Restaurants, bars and cafés can open their outside terraces at 50% capacity
• Hotels and tourist accommodation can open, but communal areas must remain closed off
• Places of worship can open at 30% capacity
• Non-professional sports are allowed for activities not involving physical contact or use of changing room facilities
• Outdoor markets can operate but the stalls must be set out with spacing between
• Cultural events for up to 30 people can be held indoors at 30% of the venue’s capacity
• Cultural events for up to 200 people can be held outdoors
• Museums can open at 30% capacity
• Funerals can be held with ‘limited numbers’ of mourners
• Timetables for taking walks and doing physical exercise remain in place, although the regions can adapt them according to factors such as hot weather

We have published all the key rules and measures regarding the four phases in a separate report, together with the current ‘phase status’ for each region. It is regularly updated as and when new measures are officially announced. The report can be found here: Lifting of lockdown in Spain – full details of all phases for all regions.

‘State of alarm’ extended to 24 May

On Wednesday the Spanish Congress also voted to officially extend the current ‘state of alarm’ lockdown in the country until 24 May. It is the fourth time that the lockdown has been extended, having started on 14 March.

The overall lockdown will continue at least until 24 May whilst Spain also continues with the ‘four phase de-escalation plan‘ of gradually lifting restrictions, depending on the progress of each region.

On Thursday, Spain’s first deputy prime minister Carmen Calvo said in an interview that it was almost certain that Spain would still need ‘some more weeks’ of lockdown even further than 24 May.

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*Health Ministry data 

Since 24 April, the Spanish Health Ministry changed its criteria for presenting Coronavirus statistics. The official daily figure for the number of infections is now for those tested only via PCR (polymerase chain reaction).

The ministry has 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.

The Health Ministry also requests each region to 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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