THREE of Spain's most densely-populated regions have gone a whole day without any new cases of Covid-19 for the first time since the middle of March – a sign that the lockdown may be working.
Coinciding with the first day of the country's entering 'unlocking phase 0', the 'preparatory' stage in the return to normality and the first of four staggered national reopenings, health authorities have revealed that the east coast regions of Valencia and Murcia, and also the Balearic Islands, have had no new contagions since yesterday.
And in Madrid, the region which was by far the worst-hit, only one new case has been diagnosed in the past 24 hours, showing the virus may finally have been contained.
Contagions and death rates have slowed down significantly in the last week, despite an increase in testing and a thorough review of figures in light of discrepancies – to date, 25,428 people have died out of the 218,011 diagnosed, with 121,343 having been cured or, if they were asymptomatic and did not actually fall ill despite testing positive, have been confirmed virus-free.
The mortality rate in Spain from Covid-19 continues to be at around 11.7% of those diagnosed, whilst the cure rate to date is 55.7%.
Earlier this week, the UK's death toll was reported as having exceeded 26,000, making it the third-highest on earth after the USA and Italy, and pushing Spain down to fourth, with the British mortality rate from Covid-19 being in region of 16%.
Also in the last 24 hours, several town halls have been delivering free masks – normally one disposable and one reusable – to every resident's mailbox, even if they are not in the high-risk group which includes key workers in close contact with the public, the over-60s, and those with pre-existing health conditions.
“I'd like to not call for too much euphoria,” comments Fernando Simón, head of Spain's Health Emergencies and Alerts Coordination Centre – which has been very much in the foreground during the pandemic.
“The data from today, albeit very good, may not be quite as accurate as on other days since there will have been some delay in reporting figures over the weekend.
“We would expect that viral transmission within the community will have decreased by around 25%.”
Only two regions have reported incidences of Covid-19 exceeding 100 per 100,000 inhabitants (one per 1,000, or 0.1% of the total population) – Catalunya, the second-hardest hit by the pandemic after Madrid, and the centre-northern region of Castilla y León.
Currently, the average for Spain as a whole for new contagions has dropped to 51 per 100,000 (0.051% of the population), despite having been, in recent weeks and in certain health departments, as high as 1% of the entire headcount.
In addition to the three main Mediterranean regions of Valencia, Murcia and the Balearics, another 11 have reported fewer than 10 new cases in the last 24 hours.
Spain has 17 autonomously-governed regions, or 19 counting the 'autonomous cities' of Ceuta and Melilla on the northern Moroccan coast, which have seen fewer than six deaths between them during the entire health crisis.
For the second day running, the Balearics has not reported a single Covid-19 death, and no fatalities have been recorded today from the disease in Murcia, Extremadura in the west, La Rioja in the far north, nor in Ceuta or Melilla.
The above photograph shows a healthcare worker carrying out a Covid-19 test on a patient at the Mateu Orfila Hospital in Mahón, Menorca.
