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Coronavirus in Spain figures (24 July)

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Report below updated in Spain at 17.30h on Friday 24 July

CORONAVIRUS in SPAIN – latest Health Ministry figures

The latest official figure* released by the Spanish Health Ministry on Friday 24 July for the number of people who have tested positive for Coronavirus (Covid-19) is now 272,421. This is an overall increase of 2,255 against the figure released on Thursday — yet with the ministry stating that 922 of these infections have occurred in the past 24 hours. The difference is because the ministry claims it is still verifying and updating historical data (please also see discrepancies in figures* below).

327 people have needed hospital treatment in the past 7 days, of whom 14 have required intensive care.

Thursday had shown an increase of 971 infections in 24 hours, according to Health Ministry data – but an overall increase of 2,615 over the figures released on Wednesday.

Wednesday had been 730 infections in 24 hours – but an overall increase of 1,357 over Tuesday.

Tuesday had been 529 infections in 24 hours – but an overall increase of 1,358 over Monday.

Of the 922 new infections registered in the past 24 hours by the central Health Ministry in Spain, 298 are in Aragón (with 2,113 new cases there in the past 7 days), 133 in Catalonia (with 4,846 new cases in past 7 days), 107 in Madrid, 93 in Navarra, 70 in Andalusia, 49 in the Basque Country, 40 in the Valencia region, 30 in Murcia, and 20 in Galicia.

The current peak of recorded infections for a 24-hour period in Spain was on 31 March, when 9,222 new cases were registered.

The Ministry of Health’s official figures* for Friday 24 July also now show that there have been a total of 28,432 Coronavirus-related deaths in Spain – an increase of 3 over Thursday.

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

A full breakdown in Spanish of the data per region, together with age group statistics can be found by clicking here.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex speaking to the media during a visit to Charles de Gaulle airport on 24 July 2020. (Twitter / French Government @gouvernementFR)

Travel recommendations

On Friday France issued a recommendation to its citizens not to travel to Catalonia (see further figures below) due to ‘deteriorating sanitary indicators’.

The French Prime Minister Jean Castex spoke to the media on Friday whilst on a visit to Charles de Gaul airport. He recommended that French citizens should avoid travelling to Catalonia and that border police would be vigilant in protecting them from Covid-19.

‘We strongly urge French citizens to avoid travelling to that territory [Catalonia] until the health situation there improves,’ said Castex.

Castex said that he had also asked Spain for the number of visitors travelling towards France to also be minimal.

With the health situation in Catalonia worsening, Castex said that French authorities were ‘in discussions’ with their Spanish counterparts to ‘make sure that the flow [of people] from Spain to France [also] remains as small as possible.’

He said that the French government would reinforce controls at the border with Spain in the hope of better containing the pandemic, with people arriving from some countries being subject to compulsory testing.

A meeting between Castex and Spain’s deputy prime minister Carmen Calvo scheduled for Monday was postponed in a move that was seen as reducing the likelihood of the border shutting.

On Wednesday, Spanish tourism minister Reyes Maroto said that she hoped a closure of the border with France would not be necessary

Meanwhile Norway has also updated its travel rules, and will impose a 10-day quarantine on travellers from Spain starting on Saturday due to the spike in cases, the Norwegian government said on Friday.

Situation in Catalonia

Catalan health authorities have warned that a crucial week lies ahead regarding the progression of the latest Covid-19 outbreaks.

‘These are critical days,’ the Catalan health secretary Josep Maria Argimon said, ‘not because UCIs are full like in March, but because of how the illness is developing.’

‘The issue now is whether we as citizens take steps to slow this development until we get it under control. What we can’t do is have the curve shoot off,’ he said.

Independently of the way that Spain’s Health Ministry presents its figures (above), the regional health department in Catalonia has released its own data on Friday showing that a further 1,003 new cases of Coronavirus have been registered there in the past 24 hours.

On Thursday there had been 1,597 new cases of Coronavirus in Catalonia.

Wednesday had seen 353 new cases. Tuesday had been 287Monday 748 – Sunday 944 – and on Saturday the figure had been 1,226 new cases in 24 hours.

As reported last Sunday, in an attempt to curb the rising number of Covid-19 cases, the Catalan government has adopted new measures in various areas of Catalonia – including the city of Barcelona itself.

The Catalan government has also called on people living in these areas to avoid leaving home unless necessary, and to not travel to any second homes. Click here for details: Coronavirus in Catalonia – update (19 July).

On Tuesday Barcelona City Council also announced that the permitted capacity on the city’s beaches would reduce by 15% with immediate effect.

Spanish police keeping control at border controls during the lockdown. (Photo @policia / Twitter)

*Discrepancies in figures

Although the Health Ministry updated its official Coronavirus mortality figures on 19 June following on-going discrepancies with the data released by some of the country’s regional health authorities – there are still huge differences in the ‘excess mortality’ figures published for this period in Spain.

Click here for full report: Spain’s ‘excess mortality’ during Coronavirus pandemic is over 43,000

Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE) published figures showing that the number of deaths for the first 21 weeks of 2020 have been 24% higher than for the same period in 2019 – based on information received from the country’s civil registries (1 January to 24 May). The number of deaths during this period for 2020 is 43,945 higher than in 2019.

Spain – ‘New Normality’

After three months under a ‘state of alarm’ (since 14 March), Spain entered its ‘New Normality’ phase on Monday 22 June, following on from the government’s four phased plan to relax the country’s lockdown restrictionsCLICK HERE for all details: Spain’s ‘New Normality’ – key points

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Click here for all previous reports on: Coronavirus in Spain

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