Latest: Coronavirus in Spain figures (20 Jan)
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has said that amid falling death rates for Covid-19, Spain and the EU should consider moving away from the detailed tracking that the pandemic has required until now to a flu-like monitoring system.
The change would mean treating Coronavirus as an ‘endemic illness’ rather than a pandemic, Sánchez said during a radio interview on Monday, adding that deaths as a proportion of recorded cases have fallen dramatically since the initial onset of the pandemic.
‘I believe that we have the conditions for, with precaution, slowly, opening the debate at the technical level and at the level of health professionals, but also at the European level, to start evaluating the evolution of this disease with different parameters than we have until now,’ Sánchez told Cadena SER radio.
‘Spanish citizens have responded positively to vaccination,’ he said. ‘We have very high percentages of protection. Now, we must assess the evolution of Covid towards an endemic disease and continue promoting immunisation, protection and institutional cooperation.’
The prime minister also confirmed a report from El País, that under a new monitoring system already being drafted by Spanish health authorities, every new infection would not need to be recorded – and that people with symptoms would not necessarily be tested but they would continue to receive treatment. The new system for reporting the data is expected to start after the latest sixth wave has at least passed its peak. Figures on Friday 14 January showed that there had been 1,512,749 cases of Coronavirus detected in the past 14 days, with the incidence rate now at 3,192.
La ciudadanía española ha respondido de forma positiva a la vacunación. Tenemos unos porcentajes muy altos de protección. Ahora, debemos valorar la evolución del #COVID19 hacia una enfermedad endémica y seguir impulsando la inmunización, protección y cooperación institucional. pic.twitter.com/lz2E9dd5VR
— Pedro Sánchez (@sanchezcastejon) January 10, 2022
Click here for all our reports on: Coronavirus in Spain
Sign up for the FREE Weekly Newsletter from Spain in English.
Please support Spain in English with a donation.
Click here to get your business activity or services listed on our DIRECTORY.
Click here for further details on how to ADVERTISE with us.
