Charlie Smith
SPAIN has registered 2,045 new COVID-19 cases and three deaths since Friday.
This marks the country’s highest coronavirus figures since mid-May.
The national caseload now stands at 255,953 and the total death toll at 28,406.
In the last 24 hours 164 positive cases of the virus have been reported, compared to 78 last Monday.
The number of positive cases diagnosed in the last week – a measure widely regarded as the most reliable – has surged to 683.
This is nearly five times the 143 cases registered on June 18, as the country prepared for its ‘new normality’ on June 22.
In total there have been seven coronavirus-related deaths in Spain in the last week.
During the same period there have been 146 people hospitalised with COVID-19, eight of whom have been placed in intensive care units (ICUs).
This data for the weekend – the Ministry of Health no longer does daily updates – comes from PCR tests.
“The data is not good,” said Fernando Simon, Director of the Coordination Center for Health Alerts and Emergencies (CCAES), today.
It comes as the Spanish Government is battling some 120 ‘active coronavirus outbreaks’.
Among these flare-ups, which Simon attributed to ‘community transmission’, are those of Aragon, which forced 870,000 people back into Phase 2.
At his press conference today the health chief added that the ‘virus is more widespread than the outbreaks indicate’.
Less than a fortnight ago he had said Spain’s coronavirus situation ‘is really good’.
He continued: “We have a very significant number of cases,” adding, “Around 70% are asymptomatic.”
Today he described the pandemic in Spain as ‘different’ as he revealed that an increase in cases among 0 to 4-year-olds had been detected.
The proportion of new cases aged under 50 has increased compared to the last few weeks.
The average age of male COVID-19 patients is now 46.3, while for women it is 50.5.
Simon said that the effects of the virus in young people are ‘generally milder’, but he appealed to them to limit their group sizes.
He said: “The new normal does not mean going back to the same thing as always.”
