Outbreak’s new inroads leaving Spain in dismay
Balancing act coming at tourist season peak
SANT SADURNÍ D’ANOIA, Spain — Like most Spaniards, Emma Gaya thought the worst of the pandemic was behind her.
Spain’s government had ended a three-month lockdown after a COVID-19 onslaught that claimed at least 28,400 lives in the European Union nation. To kick-start its stalled economy, Spaniards were encouraged to cautiously resume their lives under a “new normality” based on wearing face masks, washing hands and social distancing.
The respite didn’t last long. Outbreaks among farm workers and young people desperate to resume socializing after being cooped up have spread across northern Spain, spawning what some health officials fear could be the start of a dreaded “second wave” of infections.
“It pains me to think that we could be right back where we were,” Gaya said after getting tested for the novel coronavirus at her local health clinic in Sant Sadurni D’anoia, a village near Barcelona.
On June 22, the day after Spain ended a national state of emergency and restored free movement around the country, the health ministry registered 125 new cases in 24 hours. Six weeks later, the daily count has jumped, hitting 1,525 on Friday.
Spain is leading Western Europe’s major countries with an average of 60 coronavirus cases per 100,000 inhabitants. While the country’s south and the Canary and Balearic Islands remain in good shape, the regions of Navarre, Aragon, and Catalonia have registered more than 120 cases per 100,000 inhabitants over a 14-day period, making Spain’s northeast the biggest European hot spot along with parts of Romania, according to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.
In contrast to the darkest weeks of March and April, when the virus ripped through Spain’s elderly in nursing homes and pushed the country’s hospitals to the breaking point, the pressure is now on Spain’s neighborhood health clinics. They are trying to screen and isolate the new infections, which are taking place mostly among the young, who in Spain and countries across the world are ignoring social distancing, and the middle-aged.
The average age of a virus patient in Spain has fallen from 63 in the spring to 45 now, and “the pressure on the health system is low,” said Spanish Health Minister Salvador Illa.
Spain’s improved testing capacity makes a comparison to the start of the pandemic difficult.
Now, local clinics are discovering many more infections among those who don’t show symptoms.
“We are in a different situation (than in the spring) because right now we have tests available,” said Dr. Miriam Ceña, director of the health clinics in Sant Sadurni D’anoia.
The surge in new infections is sure to add to the drastic contraction of Spain’s economy by slamming hopes of reactivating the country’s critical tourism sector. The economy has already dropped 18 percent in the second quarter — its biggest dip since Spain’s 1936-39 Civil War.
Spain must now pull off the delicate balancing act of managing the health crisis while reactivating its economy. Officials desperately hope they can avoid another full lockdown, which would be catastrophic to businesses and jobs despite the expected injection of massive aid from the European Union.