Date Published: 19/05/2020

ARCHIVED - Active cases fall below 200 in the Murcia Region on Monday

5 hospitalised in the last 24 hours

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Active cases fall below 200 in the Murcia Region on Monday

Monday(figures presented Monday evening which will be included in the national totals for Tuesday

Total active cases: 195 (a fall of 75 in 24 hours)

Total cases: 2619 (1558 diagnosed by PCR 1061 using rapid tester)

Hospitalised: 37 ( a rise of 5)

Intensive care: 7 (a fall of 2)

Home isolation: 158 (a fall of 80)

Fatalities: 145(no change)

Cured: 1218 (see text below)

Sunday (figures presented Sunday evening which will be included in the national totals for Monday

Total active cases: 270

Total cases: 2595(1556 diagnosed by PCR 1039 using rapid tester)

Hospitalised: 32

Intensive care: 9

Home isolation: 238

Fatalities: 145

Cured: 2180

Data released on Monday by the regional health authority mirrors the positive national figures presented on Monday evening, the number of cases in the Murcia region dropping below 200 to 195.

However, at first glance it would appear that something has gone horribly wrong with the figures of those who have recovered from Covid-19, as yesterday 2180 had recovered from the virus, whereas today the figures only show 1218.

This is because the national Ministry of Health has decided to change the reporting system yet again, and will now only list patients as recovered if they have been diagnosed using the PCR swab test system.

The health authorities have been unable to accurately diagnose whether a patient has actually had Covid-19 using the PCR swab method due to a lack of materials, and as the rapid test kits only show the presence of antibodies in the blood, it can´t be proven that the patient was ill and recovered from the virus or whether they experienced any major symptoms, so the system will now only record a patient as having "recovered" if there is proof that they were ill in the first place!

Complicated!

The health authorities are only testing more severe cases which require medical intervention using the PCR system and in the last 24 hours only 2 new patients have presented this level of symptoms.

22 “cases of antibodies in the blood” were detected in those who had called the helpline with mild symptoms, bringing the total of “old cases” detected in this fashion up to 1061 since the pandemic began, but all of these are now cured, albeit, not officially cured as officially they were not ill in the first place!

The total number of cases detected using both PCR tests and antibody tests is 2,619, and the region has carried out 30,715 PCR tests to date and 35,837 rapid tests.

Five people were hospitalised yesterday and there were no new deaths, with just 37 hospitalised and 7 in intensive care.

Unfortunately for the Murcia region , its figures have been so good during the last few weeks that one or two new cases radically changes the percentage of cases and the new cases recorded in the last few days have changed the numbers of cases per 100,00 of population so that Murcia is no longer the region with the lowest number of cases per capita. Andalucia has crept past Murcia with 3.59 cases per 100,000, as opposed to the 4.28 cases per 100,000 of Murcia. This is still well below the national average of 20.02, and a long way from the 35.88 of Madrid, which is still being held back at phase zero by the national health ministry because of this high number of cases.

Last night the Ministry of Health reported 59 fatalities nationally during the last 28 hours, the second consecutive day below 100; the number of fatalities on Sunday was 87, the lowest figure in two months.

This is the lowest figure since the 16th March when there were 22 deaths; after this date the figures shot up and have remained higher ever since.

This brings the total figure nationally to date up to 27,709.

The number of new cases recorded on Sunday was 285, as opposed to the 421 of Saturday. This brings the number of new cases down to a level not seen since the pandemic was first officially classified as such on 8th March.

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