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Coronavirus in Spain full update (14 May)

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Report below updated in Spain at 13.45h on Thursday 14 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 Thursday 14 May confirm that 27,321 people have now died from the pandemic in Spain, up by 217 on yesterday.

Wednesday had seen an increase of 184 Coronavirus-related deaths over Tuesday. Tuesday had been an increase of 176 over Monday. Monday had been 123.

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 Thursday 14 May is 229,540 – an increase of 506 over yesterday.

Wednesday’s figure for the increase of infections tested only through PCR had been 439 over Tuesday. Tuesday’s comparative figure had been 426 over Monday. Monday had been 373.

A total figure also released today by the ministry for those who have tested positive through PCR and antibody testing, however, is 272,646 (229,540 PCR; 43,106 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).

143,374 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 229,540 confirmed cases through PCR testing – there have now been 65,693 cases in the Madrid region and where 8,779 have died (from the total 27,321 across the country). There have been 55,482 cases in Catalonia and where 5,823 have died.

There are now 13,219 known cases in the Basque Country (1,454 deaths), 12,359 in Andalusia (1,336), 16,470 in Castilla La Mancha (2,852) and 10,784 in the Valencia region (1,349).

Figures for those infected with Coronavirus in other regions are now as follows: Aragón 5,389 (836 deaths), Asturias 2,356 (308 deaths), Balearic Islands 1,958 (216), Canary Islands 2,275 (151), Cantabria 2,256 (205), Castilla y León 18,173 (1,925), Ceuta 116 (4), Extremadura 2,923 (492), Galicia 9,317 (601), Melilla 119 (2), Murcia 1,532 (142), Navarra 5,105 (498) and La Rioja 4,014 (348).

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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Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in the Spanish Congress on 13 May 2020. (Congreso.es)

CORONAVIRUS in SPAIN

‘State of Alarm’ until end of June?

Spain has now completed two months of the current ‘state of alarm’ that commenced on 14 March – and it could possibly be extended until towards the end of June.

Last Wednesday 6 May, the Spanish Congress voted to extend the ‘state of alarm’ for a fourth time – until 24 May.

Each time the ‘state of alarm’ has been extended up to now, it has been for two weeks at a time. However, the Spanish government is now considering to propose a four week extension, taking it until 23 June.

Spain’s first deputy prime minister Carmen Calvo has been in touch with several parties in the past few days in search of support for a fifth extension of the exceptional measure, which will otherwise expire at midnight on Saturday 23 May.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has insisted that the ‘state of alarm’ is necessary in Spain in order to effectively carry out his government’s four-phase plan to gradually lift the lockdown restrictions over a period of eight weeks, and in order to return the country to a ‘new normality’ by the end of June.

Each extension to the ‘state of alarm’ requires a vote in the Spanish Congress. On 6 May, votes in favour of the extension were 178, against 75, and with 97 abstentions.

The coalition (PSOEPodemos) government of Sánchez succeeded in the last vote with the support of the Ciudadanos (Cs) party and the Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ-PNV). The right-wing People’s Party (PP) abstained in the vote. The Catalan pro-independence parties and the far-right Vox party voted against.

The PP led by Pablo Casado and the Vox party led by Santiago Abascal strongly oppose any extension to the ‘state of alarm’ – and they also severely criticise the handling of the Coronavirus crisis by the government of Sánchez.

In recent days, small protests have started in some areas of Madrid against the ‘state of alarm’ – specifically in the affluent ‘Barrio de Salamanca’. Groups of protestors take mainly to the street of Núñez de Balboa at 21h each evening, banging pots and pans.

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 11 April, then for a second time until 26 April – and then until 9 May.

During the overall lockdown period, from between 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.

Travel restrictions & 14-day quarantine for international arrivals

International travellers arriving to Spain will have to self-quarantine for 14 days, according to a new order published on Tuesday in the Boletín Oficial del Estado (BOE) by the Interior Ministry.

The order comes into effect this Friday 15 May. It will remain in place during of the ‘state of alarm’, currently due to end on 24 May (see part 4 below, ‘lockdown in Spain to date’). However, if the ‘state of alarm’ is extended further, then the quarantine restrictions would continue.

During 14 days, international travellers arriving in Spain will have to stay at home or wherever they are due to lodge, and their movements will be limited to basic activities only, such as buying necessary products, for health reasons, or force majeure.

Those crossing the border into Spain will also be obliged to wear a face mask and comply with all hygiene and safety measures.

Cross-border workers, freight drivers, cargo workerstransport crew,diplomatic staff and health workers are to be excluded from this rule, as long as they have not been in contact with anyone diagnosed with Coronavirus.

All travel agencies and transport companies need to inform their clients of these measures before confirming the sale of tickets to Spain. Airlines will need to hand forms to passengers for details of where they will be staying, and these will have to be completed by travellers to Spain on arrival.

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*Health Ministry data 

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

All regions of Spain must now also 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 or rapid test.

Health Minister Salvador Illa said, ‘Spain is following a very strict definition of cases in line with international authorities, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the EU 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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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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