Spain sees glimmer of hope as toll starts to flatten
EMERGING CASES of the coronavirus have slowed somewhat in Spain even as it becomes the third country to surpass China in infections after the United States and Italy.
The upward curve appears to be flattening out, the country’s Foreign Minister Arancha González is reported to have said, despite the country seeing more than 800 deaths yesterday and with the total number of cases now at 85,195.
Officials are hopeful this could mean the peak of the virus outbreak is approaching for Spain, after which it could see the number of new cases and deaths decrease.
Italy remains the epicentre for Europe with more than 100,000 infections, but has continued to see a drop in the number of new cases as it enters a third week of lockdown.
Despite glimmers of hope amid the destructive course of the coronavirus, both countries’ health systems have been overwhelmed.
At least six of Spain’s 17 regions were at their limit of ICU beds and three more were close to it, authorities said yesterday, as crews of workers frantically built more field hospitals.
“Reducing the pressure on the ICUs will be important for considering de-escalation measures,” said Dr Maria Jose Sierra, who has taken over as the health emergency centre’s spokesperson after its director tested positive.
According to the BBC, the number of new cases seen in Spain is rising at a rate of about 12 per cent a day, compared to around 20 per cent seen last week.
In Africa, cases have risen clos
er to 5,000 with reports of the virus in 46 countries and Zimbabwe beginning a three-week lockdown.
In Russia, the nation is braced for sweeping restrictions as Moscow went into official lockdown yesterday.
President Vladimir Putin has asked all citizens to stay at home, and Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin began enforcing a strict lockdown for all city residents except those working in essential sectors.
“The extremely negative turn of events we are seeing in the largest European and US cities causes extreme concern about the life and health of our citizens,” Mr Sobyanin said.
He added that an electronic monitoring system will be used to control residents’ compliance with the lockdown and warned “we will steadily tighten the necessary controls”.