COVID-19 pandemic in Spain

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Autonomous communities affected by SARS-CoV-2 infections (confirmed infections, as of April 4, 2020): 1 - 99 100 - 499 500 - 999 1000 - 2499 2500 - 4999 5000 - 9999 10000 - 19999 ≥20000









Spain isparticularly hard hitby the global COVID-19 pandemic . Since the first case of infection was reported on January 31, 2020, the number of COVID-19 pandemic- related deaths has increased sharply. Spain peaked in daily deaths on April 2, 2020, when the Ministry of Health reported 950 new deaths within 24 hours. As of August 5, 2020, 28,499 people have died in connection with the disease in Spain since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the number of reported infected people amounting to 305,767 cases.

In the first week of August (August 3-9), more than 20,000 new cases were discovered - twice as many as two weeks earlier and ten times as many as four weeks earlier. Catalonia and Aragon are still hardest hit. In the last week of July, the infection rate in the Balearic Islands was as low as in Germany - within just two weeks the rate rose from 8 to 60 per hundred thousand inhabitants.

background

The COVID-19 pandemic started in December 2019 in the city of Wuhan , People's Republic of China . The novel respiratory disease COVID-19 is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus from the Coronaviridae group . On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) classified the event as a global pandemic .

cases

The first case in Spain became known on January 31, 2020 when a German tourist in La Gomera tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 . On February 9, 2020, the second case of a British person who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 and was admitted to the University Hospital of Son Espases in Mallorca became known. On February 24, 2020, after the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy , Spain confirmed several cases related to the Italian clusters, starting with a doctor from Lombardy on vacation in Tenerife . Several COVID-19 cases were subsequently found in Tenerife involving people who had come into contact with the doctor. Other cases involving people who had visited Italy were discovered in mainland Spain. Around mid-April, the El País newspaper reported that based on the analysis of the genome on February 24, it could be concluded that various Spaniards in the Valencia region had already been infected with the virus by mid-February .

At the end of February, the top disease manager in the Ministry of Health, Fernando Simón, said Corona was not a reason to get upset. On March 4, 2020, Spain reported the first death related to the COVID-19 virus. People still felt safe; on the weekend 7./8. March took place among other things football games , festivals and other events. On March 7, 2020, the right-wing extremist party Vox held its party conference at the Palacio Vistalegre in Madrid with 9000 participants; some of them later became ill. On the same day the ruling party demanded PSOE nor via Twitter to end the streets of Spain on the occasion of the demonstrations as part of the International Women's Day "fill" on 8 March 2020th About 100,000 people took part. According to statistics, on March 8, 2020, 674 people were infected with COVID.

Provisional hospital in Madrid

As of March 18, 2020, there were 11,826 confirmed cases in 1,028 recovered patients and 533 deaths in Spain, according to authorities. Within ten days, the number of registered infected people had increased by a factor of 17.5 - an average of 33% every day. By March 24th, that number rose exponentially to 39,673 cases, 2,696 deaths were reported and 3,794 patients cured. Only on the island of La Graciosa no positive COVID case had been registered. On March 24, 2020, it was reported that soldiers disinfecting nursing homes discovered residents of several retirement homes had been left to their own devices and were living with the bodies of people suspected of having died from COVID-19. An ice rink was used as a morgue. Shortly thereafter, asked Spanish army to NATO for assistance. Corona tests, ventilators and protective equipment were requested. It was also revealed that numerous infected patients had fled hospitals.

As of April 29, 2020, 519 people per million people in Spain had died of COVID, placing the country fourth in the world in this statistic. According to the newspaper El Pais , an average of around 30,000 people died in Spain in March, compared to 45,000 in 2020, an excess mortality rate of around 50%.

History and measures

On February 9, the epidemiologist Fernando Simón , who is in charge of medical emergencies in Madrid, stated that "Spain will only have a handful of cases". On March 9, the regional government of the Autonomous Community of Madrid (the executive body of the region with the highest number of cases at the time) decided to cancel all face-to-face courses from 15 days to March 26, 2020 in all educational institutions, using instead, if possible, online -Teaching should be encouraged. On the same day, the Basque government announced that the same measure would take place in the municipality of Vitoria-Gasteiz from March 10th.

As a result of the pandemic , the cabinet had to meet for the first time, with the majority of ministers participating via video conference.

On March 10, 2020, the Spanish government ordered the immediate cancellation of all direct flights from Italy to Spain until March 25, 2020. In addition, on the same day , the government of the autonomous region of La Rioja approved the same measures as the Autonomous Community of Madrid regarding the cancellation of classes that should also be enforced from March 11, 2020. On March 11, 2020, the government of the autonomous region of Valencia announced the cancellation of the famous Spring Festival, the Fallas , for the first time since the Spanish Civil War . On the same day, the World Health Organization ( WHO) classified the COVID-19 crisis as a pandemic. On March 12, 2020, the Catalan autonomous government quarantined four municipalities - Igualada , Vilanova del Cami , Santa Margarida de Montbui and Odena. On the evening of March 12, 2020, five towns with around 70,000 inhabitants around the city of Igualada in Catalonia , about 60 kilometers from Barcelona , were cordoned off. Schools and universities across the country have been closed for about two weeks.

Address by the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on March 13, 2020

The catering establishments in Madrid were closed. On the evening of March 13, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez declared a state of alert, the third highest of the constitutional emergency levels. The state of alert had only been used once since the return to democracy, namely during an air traffic controller strike in 2010. This was accompanied by a nationwide curfew , with walks and outdoor sports being banned. With the exception of grocery stores and pharmacies, the closure of all publicly accessible facilities (shops, restaurants, etc.) was ordered. Employees and the self-employed were still allowed to drive to work, but should work from home if possible.

On March 23, 2020, it was announced that the Madrid Ice Palace was being converted into a temporary morgue . One day the Ministry of Health reported that more than 500 people in the country died of SARS-CoV-2 infection within 24 hours.

On March 25, 2020, the Spanish parliament approved the extension of the state alarm status ( Estado de Alarma ) to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic until April 12, 2020 at 0:00 a.m. Because of this alarm condition, strict restrictions on freedom of movement have been in force in the country since then. Leaving the apartment is only permitted for essential activities such as shopping for groceries or medication, visiting the doctor and working. On April 4, 2020, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced that the curfew would be extended by another two weeks until April 26. Furthermore, the Spanish Ministry of Health took the view in the first week of April that 15 out of 16 infections, “more than 90%”, had so far remained undetected and were not part of the number of cases reported to date; there is a very high number of unreported cases .

On April 10, 2020, the Spanish Minister of Health, Salvador Illa , said that after Easter, people are now advised to wear face masks for prevention, especially on local public transport. The state would soon provide sufficient numbers of the masks.

The inadequate equipment of the medical staff has been criticized many times - according to the trade unions, they had an infection rate of 14%, which is the highest in Europe during the pandemic. On April 11, 2020, the government announced that 25,000 healthcare professionals in Spain were infected.

On April 18, 2020, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced his plans that the Spanish parliament should once again decide to extend the state of alarm with a curfew without any relief for the population by another two weeks until May 9. On April 21, 2020, Minister of Health Salvador Illa announced that from April 26, children up to the age of 12 would be allowed to leave the house when accompanied by a parent, but only when accompanying the parent to the supermarket or pharmacy. Due to numerous protests by the population, the government announced on the same evening that the regulation would now apply to children up to 14 years of age and that they, accompanied by a parent, would be allowed to stay outside for a maximum of 1 hour within a radius of 1 km. The next day, both the Prime Minister and his deputy publicly apologized for the original regulation.

On April 25, 2020, after the Canary Island government publicly called for an easing of the curfew, Sánchez said that if the pandemic continues to develop in a positive direction, it will be allowed from May 2, for individual sports or walks with people , with whom you live together, to go outside. Since April 26, 2020, children accompanied by a parent have been allowed to leave the house for a maximum of one hour and within a radius of one kilometer. On April 28, 2020, the Spanish government presented a 4-phase plan for a gradual transition of the various Spanish regions towards a "new normal", with the first phase, which is to serve as a preparatory phase, called "Phase 0", to come into force on May 4th. The transition to the next phase must be approved by the Sanchez government on a case-by-case basis. The four phases are intended to reactivate the Spanish economy. In addition, the restrictions in the social area due to the current state-wide state of alarm are to be lifted step by step by June 25 of this year. The transition to phase 1 should take place on May 11th. From May 2, 2020, after an eight-week curfew, adults may leave their home for a maximum of one hour within the specified times (8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.) in order to keep themselves within a radius of one kilometer being able to stay outdoors.

On May 6, 2020, the Congress extended the Estado del alarma for the fourth time in a row with 178 votes in favor, 75 against and 97 abstentions.

Spain wants to open its borders to the EU states in the Schengen area on June 21 (exception Portugal, where the border is to be reopened on July 1). Since June 15th, tourists have been allowed to return to the Balearic Islands .

Economic consequences

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Spanish labor market are sometimes devastating. The Ministry of Employment and Social Security stated that in March 2020 alone, 833,979 social security contributors were lost. As of April 28, 562,900 registered people are on short-time work ( ERTE ), with the unemployment rate rising to 14.4%. If one takes into account the 3.7 million unemployed registered up to April 20, which, according to the state labor administration, were registered up to April 20, as of the end of April 2020 around 9 million people were - economically speaking - unemployed, approx 40% of the Spanish workforce in December, which is equivalent to 23 million citizens.

The number of vehicle registrations fell by 69.3% in March 2020. In April, as many vehicles were registered in the entire month as in the previous year on one working day, a total of 4,163. This represents a decrease of 96.5% from the previous year and the lowest number in the two decades before.

In March 2020, the economist Toni Roldán wrote that Spain needed loans of 200 billion euros from the European Stability Mechanism . The index of the Spanish gross domestic product PIB was 5.2% lower in the first quarter of 2020 than in the same period of the previous year, historically the largest decline in decades.

Social consequences

As a result of the curfew, more than 377,000 criminal complaints were filed across the country and the police arrested more than 3,267 people. On Tuesday, March 31, 2020 alone, the Spanish Ministry of the Interior reported 150 arrests and 18,000 complaints. The average annual number of criminal complaints of a similar nature in Spain is usually around 13,000. In addition, calls to the emergency number for domestic violence increased - the Ministry of Gender Equality recorded an increase of 18 percent in the second half of March 2020. On the other hand, in Barcelona, ​​for example, only 93 thefts were recently registered per week instead of 4,000. In the village of Herrera del Duque it was decreed that a minimum turnover of 30 euros must be reached for grocery purchases to ensure that the apartment is left as rarely as possible.

statistics

Evolution of the epidemic

according to WHO data

Confirmed infections (cumulative) in Spain

Confirmed infections (new cases) in Spain

Confirmed deaths (cumulative) in Spain

Confirmed deaths (new cases) in Spain

Number of cases according to autonomous regions

As of March 30, 2020

Autonomous Region Population (Jul 2019) Number of registered infections (N) Number of registered infections (%) Hospitalized

(N)

Hospitalized (%) Intensive care (N) Intensive care (%) Deceased (s) Deceased (%)
Andalusia 8 446 561 5 818 0.07% 2,632 45.24% 235 4.04% 248 4.26%
Aragon 1,324,397 2 272 0.17% 1 011 44.50% 165 7.26% 138 6.07%
Asturias 1 019 993 1 236 0.12% 464 37.54% 65 5.26% 55 4.45%
Balearic Islands 1 198 576 1,069 0.09% 314 29.37% 85 7.95% 42 3.93%
Basque Country 2,181,919 6 320 0.29% 3,287 52.01% 307 4.86% 325 5.14%
Ceuta 84 434 34 0.04% 0 0.00% 3 8.82% 1 2.94%
Extremadura 1,062,797 1 628 0.15% 320 19.66% 51 3.13% 133 8.17%
Galicia 2,698,764 4 039 0.15% 1 101 27.26% 149 3.69% 84 2.08%
Canary Islands 2 220 270 1 262 0.06% 389 30.82% 94 7.45% 55 4.36%
Cantabria 581 949 1 171 0.20% 472 40.31% 50 4.27% 37 3.16%
Castile-La Mancha 2,038,436 6 424 0.32% 2,881 44.85% 344 5.35% 708 11.02%
Castile and León 2 402 878 6 211 0.26% 2 276 36.64% 325 5.23% 516 8.31%
Catalonia 7 609 499 18 773 0.25% 11 322 60.31% 1 652 8.80% 1 672 8.91%
La Rioja 314 487 1 810 0.58% 524 28.95% 51 2.82% 85 4.70%
Madrid 6 685 471 27 509 0.41% 13 626 49.53% 1 514 5.50% 3 603 13.10%
Melilla 84 286 54 0.06% 24 44.44% 3 5.56% 1 1.85%
Murcia 1,494,442 974 0.07% 224 23.00% 59 6.06% 34 3.49%
Navarre 652 526 2 305 0.35% 936 40.61% 99 4.30% 113 4.90%
Valencian Community 4 998 711 5 508 0.11% 1 833 33.28% 356 6.46% 339 6.15%
total 47 100 396 94 417 0.20% 43 636 46.22% 5 607 5.94% 8 189 8.67%

Source: RTVE (March 31, 2020)

Case numbers according to age groups

Excess
mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic (expected deaths in black, with the confidence band in gray)
Distribution by age group as of March 30, 2020
Age group Infections

N / (%)

Hospitalized

N / (%)

Intensive care

N / (%)

Mortality (%)
<2 91 (0.2) 45 (0.2) 2 (0.1) 0.00
2-4 33 (0.1) 10 (0.0) 1 (0.1) 0.00
5-14 160 (0.3) 19 (0.1) 0 (0.0) 0.00
15-29 2853 (6.1) 454 (2.2) 24 (1.6) 0.21
30-39 4920 (10.5) 1016 (5.0) 57 (3.9) 0.16
40-49 7208 (15.4) 2052 (10.1) 116 (7.9) 0.44
50-59 8492 (18.1) 3028 (14.9) 251 (17.1) 0.78
60-69 7816 (16.7) 4024 (19.8) 445 (30.3) 2.60
70-79 7738 (16.5) 5154 (25.4) 508 (34.5) 8.89
≥80 7272 (15.5) 4511 (22.2) 67 (4.6) 20.67
Total 46,921 (100) 20,330 (100) 1,471 (100) 5.34

Source: Ministerio de Salud

See also

Web links

Commons : COVID-19 Pandemic in Spain  - Pictures, Videos and Audio Files Collection

Individual evidence

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