- Region
- Águilas
- Alhama de Murcia
- Jumilla
- Lorca
- Los Alcázares
- Mazarrón
- San Javier
-
ALL AREAS & TOWNS
- AREAS
- SOUTH WEST
- MAR MENOR
- MURCIA CITY & CENTRAL
- NORTH & NORTH WEST
- TOWNS
- Abanilla
- Abarán
- Aguilas
- Alamillo
- Alcantarilla
- Aledo
- Alhama de Murcia
- Archena
- Balsicas
- Blanca
- Bolnuevo
- Bullas
- Cañadas del Romero
- Cabo de Palos
- Calasparra
- Camping Bolnuevo
- Campo De Ricote
- Camposol
- Canada De La Lena
- Caravaca de la Cruz
- Cartagena
- Cehegin
- Ceuti
- Cieza
- Condado de Alhama
- Corvera
- Costa Cálida
- Cuevas De Almanzora
- Cuevas de Reyllo
- El Carmoli
- El Mojon
- El Molino (Puerto Lumbreras)
- El Pareton / Cantareros
- El Raso
- El Valle Golf Resort
- Fortuna
- Fuente Alamo
- Hacienda del Alamo Golf Resort
- Hacienda Riquelme Golf Resort
- Isla Plana
- Islas Menores & Mar de Cristal
- Jumilla
- La Azohia
- La Charca
- La Manga Club
- La Manga del Mar Menor
- La Pinilla
- La Puebla
- La Torre
- La Torre Golf Resort
- La Unión
- Las Palas
- Las Ramblas
- Las Ramblas Golf
- Las Torres de Cotillas
- Leiva
- Librilla
- Lo Pagan
- Lo Santiago
- Lorca
- Lorquí
- Los Alcázares
- Los Balcones
- Los Belones
- Los Canovas
- Los Nietos
- Los Perez (Tallante)
- Los Urrutias
- Los Ventorrillos
- Mar De Cristal
- Mar Menor
- Mar Menor Golf Resort
- Mazarrón
- Mazarrón Country Club
- Molina de Segura
- Moratalla
- Mula
- Murcia City
- Murcia Property
- Pareton
- Peraleja Golf Resort
- Perin
- Pilar de la Horadada
- Pinar de Campoverde
- Pinoso
- Playa Honda
- Playa Honda / Playa Paraíso
- Pliego
- Portmán
- Pozo Estrecho
- Puerto de Mazarrón
- Puerto Lumbreras
- Puntas De Calnegre
- Region of Murcia
- Ricote
- Roda Golf Resort
- Roldan
- Roldan and Lo Ferro
- San Javier
- San Pedro del Pinatar
- Santiago de la Ribera
- Sierra Espuña
- Sucina
- Tallante
- Terrazas de la Torre Golf Resort
- Torre Pacheco
- Totana
- What's On Weekly Bulletin
- Yecla
- EDITIONS: Spanish News Today Alicante Today Andalucia Today
ARCHIVED - Round-up of Murcia coronavirus news on Wednesday 1st April
Drones in service in Murcia to detect cyclists and walkers on Day 19 of the coronavirus lockdown
As the Region of Murcia reaches Day 19 of the Covid-19 lockdown almost all eyes in the regional press are on the rising totals of cases, fatalities and recoveries related to the pandemic, but at the same time the financial and economic consequences of the crisis are becoming more and more apparent and the problems of staffing and lack of resource in the health service continue to cause concern.
Within the health service the lack of testing kits continues to make it difficult to monitor the true extent of infection in Murcia. Manuel Villegas, the minister for Health in the regional government, admits to being unable to say with certainty when 20,000 rapid testing kits - which provide a result in no more than 20 minutes – will arrive, and in consequence priority continues to be given to health and medical professionals in performing the more time-consuming and expensive PCR tests.
For this reason almost a quarter of all confirmed cases in Murcia concern those working in the sector, a far larger proportion than the 14 per cent in the country as a whole.
On a more positive note, though, on Monday and Tuesday more protective equipment for those in the healthcare sector became available with the arrival of over 1.5 million facemasks and large quantities of protective gloves, medical gowns and other items.
At the same time, 286 newly qualified doctors in their first year of residency at hospitals in the Region of Murcia are being pressed into emergency service and treating patients in the “front line”, many of them working double shifts at medical centres and hospitals.
Meanwhile, following the forced shutdown of much of Spain’s economic activity at the weekend the Region of Murcia has become an eerily quiet place in some ways. An estimated 90 per cent of all construction activity has ground to a halt, and it is only in agriculture and the transport sector that the situation even resembles normality. The FROET transport workers federation reports that around 70 per cent of the large fleet of trucks and lorries is still on the roads, mostly ensuring that the food supply chain from the fields and orchards to supermarket shelves remains operational: some reports suggest that sales of fresh fruit and vegetables has risen by over 50 per cent since the lockdown began!
However, difficult times lie ahead for the agriculture sector, with the lack of migratory farmhands from northern Africa and eastern Europe likely to bring about problems in harvesting and picking over the next few weeks due to the restrictions on travel and the closure of national borders.
At least it is reported that the shutdown is not yet likely to affect the work on the AVE high-speed rail line leading to Murcia, with Adif reporting that the work is still on schedule despite machinery not being operated since the beginning of this week. Workers are temporarily on leave but will work back the days not worked during the emergency later in the year and the first services are expected to run early in 2022 – although so many dates have been mentioned over the last decade or so that even that forecast must be taken with a pinch of salt!
Throughout all of this, the lockdown is still being respected by the vast majority of the population, with spot checks on the roads checking that all drivers are able to provide a valid reason for them being on the roads. In the city of Murcia drones are being used to detect those who refuse to observe the restrictions, especially in areas popular with cyclists and walkers such as the banks of the River Segura and El Valle and La Fuensanta in the mountains to the south of the city.
But there are still some determined to break the lockdown laws, and one of them was detained last week while zigzagging along the street on an electric scooter with five times the permitted amount of alcohol in his bloodstream!
Remember: LOCKDOWN MEANS LOCKDOWN. STAY AT HOME. STAY SAFE AND DO YOUR BIT TO REDUCE THE SPREAD OF CORONAVIRUS.
Follow Murcia Today on Facebook to keep up to date with all the latest updates locally for the Region of Murcia and the main information for the rest of Spain: https://www.facebook.com/MurciaToday/.
Our local area groups are as follows. These are designed to filter locally specific information and may be used by clubs, charities, any of the businesses who work with us to ensure information is available to residents in English and for those living in the specific areas. They are not buy and sell groups, do not accept any bickering or argumentative so and so's, are not "open for any old rubbish" pages, and are not trying to compete with your local comunity groups, they are specifically for sharing good, relevant local information and we hope you will use them for that during this difficult time.
Around Mazarrón news, events and local info: Click to join
Mazarrón, Fuente Álamo, Águilas, Lorca, Totana, Puerto Lumbreras, Camposol, Alhama de Murcia. Click to join (all within a half hour drive of each other)
Mar Menor news, events and local info. Click to join (this includes all the Mar Menor municipalities and Cartagena)
North-west Murcia: Bullas, Mula, Cehegin, Caravaca, Cieza, Calasparra, Jumilla, Moratalla info. Click to join
What to do if you are in the Region of Murcia and believe you may have contracted the virus
The regional government has set up a special helpline to supply information to members of the public (900 121212) if they suspect that they may have contracted the virus rather than going straight to hospital or to a medical centre.
Sensible precautions
The advice being issued to members of the public by medical authorities all over the world coincides on the following points:
- Wash hands frequently with either soap and water or a sanitiser gel
- Catch coughs and sneezes with disposable tissues – and throw the tissues away immediately after use before immediately washing your hands!
- If you don’t have a tissue, use your sleeve – and wash the item of clothing used at the next opportunity
- AVOID touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands
- AVOID close contact with people who are unwell
- Don´t panic!
Cartagena
El Carmoli
Islas Menores and Mar de Cristal
La Manga Club
La Manga del Mar Menor
La Puebla
La Torre Golf Resort
La Union
Los Alcazares
Los Belones
Los Nietos
Los Urrutias
Mar Menor Golf Resort
Pilar de la Horadada
Playa Honda / Playa Paraiso
Portman
Roldan and Lo Ferro
San Javier
San Pedro del Pinatar
Santa Rosalia Lake and Life resort
Terrazas de la Torre Golf Resort
Torre Pacheco
Aledo
Alhama de Murcia
Bolnuevo
Camposol
Condado de Alhama
Fuente Alamo
Hacienda del Alamo Golf Resort
Lorca
Mazarron
Puerto de Mazarron
Puerto Lumbreras
Sierra Espuna
Totana
Abaran
Alcantarilla
Archena
Blanca
Corvera
El Valle Golf Resort
Hacienda Riquelme Golf Resort
Lorqui
Molina de Segura
Mosa Trajectum
Murcia City
Peraleja Golf Resort
Ricote
Sucina
Condado de Alhama
El Valle Golf Resort
Hacienda del Alamo Golf Resort
Hacienda Riquelme Golf Resort
Islas Menores and Mar de Cristal
La Manga Club
La Torre Golf Resort
Mar Menor Golf Resort
Mazarron Country Club
Mosa Trajectum
Peraleja Golf Resort
Santa Rosalia Lake and Life resort
Terrazas de la Torre Golf Resort
La Zenia
Lomas de Cabo Roig
CAMPOSOL TODAY Whats OnCartagena SpainCoronavirusCorvera Airport MurciaMurcia Gota Fria 2019Murcia property news generic threadWeekly Bulletin