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ARCHIVED - 2nd April coronavirus round-up in Spain – new record daily death toll as figures show massive destruction of jobs
10,000 fatalities since the crisis began but the Minister for Health sees grounds for optimism in the latest figures
The latest daily coronavirus update on Thursday 2nd April provides sobering news for any who might have thought that a downturn in the Covid-19 epidemic in Spain was imminent, with the death toll having risen by 950 – the largest increase so far in any one day – to 10,003.
At the same time another 8,102 new cases have been confirmed to bring the total up to 10,238, and with over 54,000 people having been hospitalized (over 6,000 of them in intensive care units following a rise of 220 over the last 24 hours) the health services across the country continue to be stretched to and beyond the limits of their resources. At the same time the number of recoveries has risen to close to 27,000, but while new cases continue to outnumber the patients cured the burden on hospitals and medical staff continues to increase.
Nonetheless, Salvador Illa, the Minister for Health, concludes from the latest data that the spread of the epidemic is now slowing in Spain, after almost three weeks of lockdown and three days since the economic shutdown announced at the weekend. Referring to the latest figures regarding new cases, he says that the upward curve has stabilized and we are entering the slow-down phase.
To add economic misery to the disaster, the March unemployment figures published during the morning show the largest monthly fall on record in the number of people making social security contributions. The jobless total rose by 302,000, or 9 per cent, during the month, but as many as 834,000 people fewer are subscribed as contributors to the social security, and when the “hibernating” workforce affected by ERTE temporary employment regulation schemes and the forced shutdown of last weekend are taken into account it is estimated that the “real” unemployment figure now stands at well over 5 million, as opposed to 3.2 million at the end of February.
At times like this it would normally be positive to report that petrol prices have dipped to a three-year low after a fall of 4.6 per cent in the last week alone, but with all travel plans abandoned until after Easter the effects on motorists’ pockets will barely be noticed!
In fact, among the few economic beneficiaries of the coronavirus pandemic in this country are the manufacturers of beer, wine, stuffed olive, crisps, chocolate, anchovies and ice-cream! Export sales may have taken a severe hit, but now that the initial run on toilet roll in supermarkets is over these are the products showing the largest sales increases across the country as those confined to their homes seek comfort foods and those which perhaps re-create the feeling that they are in their neighbourhood bar or café as they contact family and friends: flour sales have also soared as people set up their own tapas bar stocks at home!
Meanwhile, frantic efforts continue to replenish the diminishing stocks of testing kits and protective equipment for medical and healthcare staff all over the country, and in preparation for the eventual decision-making regarding the lifting of lockdown restrictions the Spanish government is preparing to track more than 40 million mobile phones across the country, analysing people’s movements and thus increasing the ability to evaluate the risk of the virus spreading further.
Great efforts are being made to reassure the public that measures are included to ensure that the movements of individual people are not recorded: all of the data collected will be anonymous, with phone numbers and the personal details of owners excluded. In this way the project is entirely compatible with data protection laws.
A similar, smaller-scale study, has already suggested that the number of pedestrians on the streets of Spain has fallen by 95 per cent over the last three weeks.
Remember: LOCKDOWN MEANS LOCKDOWN. STAY AT HOME. STAY SAFE AND DO YOUR BIT TO REDUCE THE SPREAD OF CORONAVIRUS.
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Our local area groups are as follows. These are designed to filter locally specific information and may be used by clubs, charities, any of the businesses who work with us to ensure information is available to residents in English and for those living in the specific areas. They are not buy and sell groups, do not accept any bickering or argumentative so and so's, are not "open for any old rubbish" pages, and are not trying to compete with your local comunity groups, they are specifically for sharing good, relevant local information and we hope you will use them for that during this difficult time.
Around Mazarrón news, events and local info: Click to join
Mazarrón, Fuente Álamo, Águilas, Lorca, Totana, Puerto Lumbreras, Camposol, Alhama de Murcia. Click to join (all within a half hour drive of each other)
Mar Menor news, events and local info. Click to join (this includes all the Mar Menor municipalities and Cartagena)
North-west Murcia: Bullas, Mula, Cehegin, Caravaca, Cieza, Calasparra, Jumilla, Moratalla info. Click to join
What to do if you are in the Region of Murcia and believe you may have contracted the virus
The regional government has set up a special helpline to supply information to members of the public (900 121212) if they suspect that they may have contracted the virus rather than going straight to hospital or to a medical centre.
Sensible precautions
The advice being issued to members of the public by medical authorities all over the world coincides on the following points:
- Wash hands frequently with either soap and water or a sanitiser gel
- Catch coughs and sneezes with disposable tissues – and throw the tissues away immediately after use before immediately washing your hands!
- If you don’t have a tissue, use your sleeve – and wash the item of clothing used at the next opportunity
- AVOID touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands
- AVOID close contact with people who are unwell
- Don´t panic!