Alex Trelinski
THE latest COVID-19 infection figures from the Valencian regional health ministry have today(March 19) recorded a 50% drop based on week-to-week comparisons.
Just 154 new cases have been reported compared to 310 on March 12, and a fall of 24 on yesterday’s total.
The big reduction in cases contrasts to the total of 6,130 new infections reported six weeks ago on February 5.
The Valencian Community as a whole has the lowest infection rates in Spain at 39 cases per 100,000 people compared to the national average of 127 or 224 in the Madrid region.
Alicante Province including the Costa Blanca now stands at under 30 cases per 100,000 residents.
Anything below the World Health Organisation benchmark of 50 cases puts an area or country into a coronavirus ‘low-risk’ category.
Probably due to the fact that today is the San Jose bank holiday, no details about death rates or hospitalisations were published by the health ministry.
There have been strong hints from Valencian president, Ximo Puig, that most of the current tough restrictions that have driven COVID cases down will be maintained beyond the Easter holiday period.
Puig has suggested that regional border closures and curfew times could stay in place until the provisions of the second national State of Alarm expire in early May.
