In the last seven days, 1978 cases of infection with the new coronavirus were diagnosed in Spain, an increase of 8.8 percent compared to the previous week, according to data from that country’s Ministry of Health.
This increase took place from June 20, the last day before the whole country entered the last phase of deflation, which allowed all trips to continue, despite the restrictions on the occupation of closed spaces, such as shops and restaurants. , and open, like beaches.
The latest outbreaks of infection detected by the Spanish health authorities are located in the municipalities of Tarazona de la Mancha, where four members of the same family were isolated, and in the municipality of Castellón de la Plana, where 16 members of a family gathered to celebrate São João, now being quarantined.
Outbreaks exist in virtually all Spanish communitiesaccording to The country. Only Asturias, which declared itself to be the first free community for the new coronavirus, has not reported any case for 15 days.
“Numbers are not a concern in absolute values”
Officially, a localized outbreak occurs when there are three related cases anywhere, or just one case in a nursing home. However, the word is used with caution by some communities. Cantabria, for example, refuses to classify the appearance of the new coronavirus in a building in the city of Santander as an outbreak that forced the isolation of 13 people.
Also, the capital Madrid itself has not reported localized outbreaks, despite being the community that registered the most cases during the pandemic (almost 72 thousand, one third of the total) and the second one with the most infections detected in the last week (165).
“Effectively, this increase in cases is due to outbreaks,” said a spokeswoman for the Spanish Ministry of Health, cited by the The country. “In absolute terms, the numbers are not a concern, but let’s say we have to be aware of these situations. It is necessary to study this trend ”.
The official added that “a lot of screening is being carried out among users of nursing homes, health professionals and contacts of diagnosed cases, even in people without symptoms”.
Between 19 and 25 July, Spain carried out 179 thousand tests on Covid-19, which means 94 tests for each registered infection case. In the previous seven days, 84 people had been tested for each infected patient.
Call for a “preventive attitude”
Although photographs of crowded beaches and parties in closed spaces are being associated with the appearance of new outbreaks, most of them are actually related to family gatherings or working conditions. One of the most serious outbreaks, with over 100 infected people, originated in a Red Cross reception center, like other outbreaks in hospitals.
Despite being a reason for warning, the 1978 new cases of the last week represent only a fifth of those who were diagnosed in a single day in early May in Spain. For this reason, experts give them a relative importance.
“This does not necessarily have to mean a problem. This increase in cases shows that the epidemic persists, but also that Public Health detects them. We continue in a pandemic that has never disappeared, and it is very likely that we will see cases grouped together ”, said epidemiologist Federico Arribas to the The country.
Other experts argue that the appearance of these outbreaks should give rise to a reflection on the individual habits that the population is following in the deflation. “It is necessary for health authorities to reinforce recommendations to all actors: local governments, companies and the population in general, so that they maintain a preventive attitude”, defended Ildefonso Hernández, of the Spanish Society of Public Health and Sanitary Administration.
Since it first appeared in Spain, the new coronavirus has infected more than 267,000 people, of which 150,000 have recovered from the disease. There are, to date, a total of 28355 fatalities in that country.
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