Spain’s relief as first major EU nation to report no new deaths
SPAIN yesterday reported zero deaths over the previous 24 hours from the coronavirus for the first time since March, in a major symbolic step in vanquishing the disease for one of Europe’s worst-hit nations.
Fernando Simon, the emergency health response chief, said the development was “very, very encouraging”.
Beyond the lack of deaths, there were only 71 new infections over the previous 24 hours, he told reporters. “We are in a very good place in the evolution of the pandemic,” said Mr Simon. “The statistics are following a trend. They are going in the right direction.”
Spain was the second European country after Italy to be brutally hit by the pandemic before it spread to neighbouring France and then Britain.
The country reported its first two deaths on March 3. Infections and deaths rocketed exponentially and peaked on April 2, when some 950 fatalities were recorded in just 24 hours.
One of the world’s strictest lockdowns was put into place in mid-march and managed to eventually reduce the pressure on hospitals after some were overwhelmed with patients suffering from the virus.
Its official death toll now stands at 27,127, with 240,000 confirmed cases. The lockdown has been gradually relaxed as the medical situation improves
Bilbao’s Guggenheim Museum was Spain’s first large museum to reopen yesterday, with 70 per cent of the country enjoying beaches and restaurants as restrictions are eased.
The country plans to welcome foreign visitors from July 1. The government has warned, however, that the threat is not over and that the loosening of restrictions could be reversed.
Pedro Sanchez, Spain’s prime minister, said last weekend he will be asking parliament for a two-week extension of the government’s special emergency powers. That enables authorities to order people to stay at home.
Mr Simon said recent hot spots caused by people holding unauthorised “fiestas” risked potentially causing a fresh upsurge. “We are still at risk.
Any of these outbreaks can mean a new wave of infections,” he said. “We must remain cautious.”
On Sunday, Sweden also reported zero coronavirus deaths over the previous 24 hours. However, the health ministry expressed caution as in previous weekends, authorities reported a low death toll only for a steeper rise to return in the following days when the reporting caught up.
Last week, the Scandinavian country reported the highest number of Covid-19 deaths in Europe per capita over a seven-day period. It has faced both criticism and praise for taking a more relaxed approach to lockdown measures than most other countries.
Other European countries where the virus took a major toll have all seen infections and deaths drop but no major ones had reached the zero mark until now.
Britain yesterday reported 111 more coronavirus deaths – the lowest daily toll since the start of the nationwide lockdown on March 23. The death toll now stands at 39,045.
In Italy, deaths climbed by 60 yesterday while the daily tally of new cases fell to just 178 from 355 on Sunday, according to the Civil Protection Agency.
Italy’s total death toll since the outbreak came now stands at 33,475, the third-highest in the world after those of the United States and Britain.
However, at 424, the number of patients in intensive care continued to fall as the country prepares to open up to foreign tourists on Wednesday.
It came as a top Italian doctor sparked controversy by claiming the coronavirus “no longer exists”.
Italy is due to relax its lockdown on June 3, when regions will allow free travel to all citizens for the first time since a nationwide lockdown was imposed in early March. Starting on Wednesday, Italy will also reopen its borders to foreign tourists coming from all the Schengen countries, without imposing a two-week quarantine.
“In reality, the virus clinically no longer exists in Italy,” said Alberto Zangrillo, head of the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan. On Sunday he said he had based his assumptions on swab tests performed over the previous 10 days.