Date Published: 20/07/2020
ARCHIVED - 4,581 new Covid cases in Spain this weekend
ARCHIVED ARTICLE
685 of these have been during the last 24 hours
Image: From Barcelona town hall. Cataluña recorded 944 new cases on Sunday, bringing the total up to 82,876. 12,636 deaths have been recorded in the region during the crisis (according to the funeral parlours, NOT the official stats reported by the MInistry of Health which only counts cases officially diagnosed by PCR).Click for official source data.
This weekend for the second time, the Ministry of Health did not publish Covid figures in a daily press conference as is normally the case, so when the figures for the weekend were finally published on Monday evening the scale of them was significant; 4,581 new cases since the figures were last published on Friday.
Minister for Health, Salvador Illa, indicated that there are now 201 outbreaks, 15 more than on Friday, which account for 2,289 positive cases and expressed his concern for the current situation, although at the same time trying to issue reassurances that “there is no need to be afraid of the virus, but it has to be respected.”
Normally the Minister is accompanied at the press conferences by the head of the Coordination Center for Health Alerts and Emergencies (CCAES), Fernando Simón, but the Minister explained that he has taken a "well-deserved rest " after months of "intense work" and was represented by Doctor María José Sierra who reported that the cumulative incidence of cases is increasing and has in fact tripled, from about 300 cases three weeks ago, to 650 two weeks ago and 1,200 last week.
The total cases to date certified via the PCR swab system in Spain is now 264,836.
Sierra acknowledged that the volume of new contagions occurring at parties and in nightlife venues have begun to "worry" the Ministry and once again called for "responsibility".
Low levels of hopitalisations; except in the case of Lleida, the pressure on hospitals is "low" as many of the cases are occurring amongst younger members of the population and are mild or asymptomatic (no symptoms). The Ministry also recognizes that there is an "important" percentage of cases in Aragon and Catalonia that is not associated with any specific outbreak, but is due to “community transmission” as there is such a high concentration of cases in these areas. An outbreak is declared when there is a focus of three cases, but the number of cases in these areas goes way beyond this as there are so many small outbreaks that they rapidly merge into a generalised transmission.
The death rate however, is very low, as hospitals have learned better how to control the virus and are more adequately prepared to handle it, so only 9 people have died across Spain in the last week, bringing the global total up to 28,422.
11 deaths from COVID-19 in the United Kingdom today bring the overall total to 45,312, according to Health data. Government figures only relate to the number of deaths confirmed by PCR tests, but other statistics indicate that the actual number of deaths attributable to the virus could exceed 55,600 in the UK (the same situation exists in Spain and other countries as the WHO only compiles its figures from PCR tested results). The UK health ministry has indicated that 295,372 infections have been detected to date, of which 580 new cases were diagnosed in the last 24 hours.
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