Spain has recorded its highest daily rise in new coronavirus cases since the beginning of the deescalation process, with 971 infections detected in 24 hours on Thursday, compared to Wednesday’s figure of 730. According to the latest figures from the Spanish Health Ministry, which now only offers disaggregated data from Monday to Friday, the daily rise of 241 new cases is the largest increase recorded since May 8, when the government began to roll back its coronavirus lockdown rules.
Replying to media questions at a government press conference on Thursday, María José Sierra, from the Health Ministry’s Coordination Center for Health Alerts, said: “This may already be a second wave.”
France on Friday recommended not traveling to Catalonia due to the surge in cases there. “We strongly urge French citizens to avoid traveling to that territory until the health situation there improves,” said Prime Minister Jean Castex on Friday. And Norway will impose a 10-day quarantine on travelers from Spain starting on Saturday due to the spike in cases, the Norwegian government said on Friday. The Spanish Foreign Ministry has published a list of countries currently applying restrictions on travelers from Spain (updated before Norway made its announcement).
No new lockdown “in theory”
Defense Minister Margarita Robles said on Friday that “in theory” there are no plans to decree a new national state of alarm like the one that kept people mostly confined to their homes for three months between March and June. Instead, Robles said that the government wants to “support the work” of regional authorities in their own fight against the spread and effects of Covid-19. In an interview on the private television network Antena 3, the minister also asked authorities in regions experiencing significant transmission spikes to “reflect” on their own management of the crisis. Without mentioning the Catalan government specifically, Robles recalled that some regional authorities harshly criticized the central executive for its handling of the crisis earlier this year, claiming that things would be different when they got their powers back. But “we are now seeing that it’s not that easy or simple,” she said. The rise in coronavirus cases is being felt across Spain, with the cumulative incidence of the virus tripling in the past two weeks. According to Thursday’s report, the Spanish regions of Aragón and Catalonia recorded the highest number of new Covid-19 infections, with 415 and 182, respectively. Both regions have recorded community transmission of the virus: in Lleida province and Barcelona city in Catalonia, and in Zaragoza province in Aragón. Sierra described the situation in these two areas as “the most delicate,” although in Lleida the number of new cases has begun to stabilize. Madrid also saw a rise in daily coronavirus infections, with the figure jumping from 70 on Wednesday to 102. Meanwhile in Navarre, where regional authorities have introduced new lockdown rules in a neighborhood of Pamplona due to a large Covid-19 outbreak, the number of new cases was half – 66 on Thursday, compared to 132 the day before.
The age of new coronavirus cases continues to fall as outbreaks at parties and nighttime venues lead to more infections among young people. A few days ago, the average age was 48, and by Tuesday it had dropped to 45. Sierra, however, warned on Thursday that a “certain upwards trend” in cases has been detected among people over the age of 60. This trend is of concern to the Health Ministry, given patients in this age group are at greater risk of experiencing complications. “We are worried because age is the factor most closely associated with the severity [of the disease],” said Sierra.