Date Published: 01/04/2020
ARCHIVED - April 1st: Coronavirus recoveries now outnumber fatalities in Murcia
ARCHIVED ARTICLE 43 patients have been given the all-clear after the figure doubled on Tuesday
The latest figures regarding Covid-19 which were published by the Murcia health service and the regional government on Tuesday evening provide a mixture of good and bad news, with fewer deaths and patients in intensive care than the day before but a rise in the number of newly confirmed cases.
The 67 new diagnoses took the total of cases in the region above 1,000 at 1,041, and while the figure was considerably higher than the 35 positive tests on Monday this is doubtless related to the fact that far more tests were carried out: 616 as opposed to only around 250 the day before. At the same time, it continues to be the case that relatively few tests are being carried out in Murcia and that for this reason the actual number of people infected is without any doubt a lot higher than the total reported.
Around 12,000 people are being monitored by telephone while confined to their homes in isolation and most of them have not yet been tested.
While the number of cases rose on Tuesday, the increase in the number of associated fatalities was a small one, rising from 34 to 37. At the same time the number of people admitted to hospital for treatment of Covid-19 symptoms rose by 21 to 304, although with 57 of them in intensive care units this last figure actually fell by 2 during the day.
Most encouraging, though, is the latest information regarding the number of patients who have recovered, with the total doubling from 20 to 43 on Tuesday. In Murcia the first recorded case of the coronavirus came later than in any other of Spain’s 17 regions and it is only now that significant numbers of people are being given the all-clear, perhaps signalling the beginning of a new phase in the development of the emergency situation in the Region.
But caution remains the watchword, a point reiterated yet again on Tuesday by Manuel Villegas, the minister for Health in the Murcia government. Sr Villegas continues to reinforce the point that while a peak may be reached in some parts of Spain during this week that is not expected to happen in Murcia until next week, and that on no account do the positive aspects of one day’s figures make it feasible for people to suppose that the end of the episode is being reached.
Above all, it is vital that the lockdown be respected totally in order to ensure that it is as effective as possible and that the emergency comes to an end as soon as possible.
In addition, it has to be borne in mind that the resources of the health service continue to be stretched to their limits and beyond, with at least 225 health professionals having tested positive and reducing the number of medical staff available. Among these 140 are staff employed by the SMS and the remainder are employed at private hospitals, homes for the sick and elderly and other such establishments, and a different breakdown shows that the patients include 56 nurses and 34 practising doctors.
Remember: LOCKDOWN MEANS LOCKDOWN. STAY AT HOME. STAY SAFE AND DO YOUR BIT TO REDUCE THE SPREAD OF CORONAVIRUS.