Lydia Spencer-Elliott
SINCE July 3 Spain’s number of COVID- infections has risen from 8.76 per 100,000 inhabitants to 27.39.
This is the same number of cases as when Spain first began de-escalation in May.
Aragon, Catalunya and the Basque Country have all experienced large outbreaks of the virus.
“In these communities the situation is very worrying,” said Fernando Rodriguez Artalejo, spokesman for the Spanish Society of Epidemiology.
“If it is not controlled now, and forcefully, we will have a very complicated situation.”
Health Minister, Salvador Illa, urged citizens to respect the confinement measures that have been issued in Catalunya and Aragon to stop the spread.
While some cases are related to seasonal workers picking fruit, many others could be attributed to family gatherings and parties, Illa stressed.
Although COVID-19 outbreaks in Catalonia, Aragon and the Basque Country have risen the national average, cases remain low in Leon, Madrid, Galicia, Castilla and Extremadura, experts assured.
On Sunday, Spain’s number of cases doubled with a 103% increase. This was surpassed only by Israel (147%), Luxembourg (151%), Montenegro (161%) and Kyrgyzstan (354%).
However, between 50% and 60% of these new cases are asymptomatic, according to the Center for Coordination of Health Alerts and Emergencies (CCAES).
