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30TH JUNE - 6TH JULY 2020 - EDITION 845
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Spain not out of the woods yet Spanish health officials are keeping close watch on new cases of Covid-19, a week after the State of Alarm was lifted by government. The Ministry of Health was dealing with at as many as twenty active outbreaks across Spain by the end of the first week of full de-escalation or what is being referred to as ‘The New Normal’. Officials seem to be keeping on top of the situation with ‘clusters’ of even four positive cases being treated as an outbreak and investigated vigorously. In fact, the Spanish Ministry of Health defines an outbreak as ‘a group of three or more infections with an epidemiological link’. The outbreak is considered active if there has been a transmission within the last 14 days. In more vulnerable situations – such as in nursing homes – just one positive case is considered an outbreak, even if the patient does not present any symptoms of Covid-19, due to the incredibly high level of risk and vulnerability associated with the environment and the people therein. Coordinating Spain’s health alerts is Fernando Simón who indicated that the fact Spain is reporting outbreaks “and not community transmission” is a positive sign. Simón also revealed that new cases are occurring in young people, meaning the disease is presenting milder symptoms and not transmitted as much.
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He did warn, however, that Spain needs to keep on top of logging and reporting outbreaks no matter how small - “an outbreak that escapes detection for longer could lead to community transmission”, he explained. Of the outbreaks currently under strict government observation, there are two which Simón describes as “of real concern”. One is a cluster of positive cases at a Red Cross refugee housing centre in Málaga and another is a series of positive cases among seasonal agricultural workers in the Huesca province. The Red Cross centre reported its first positive case of Covid-19 on the first day of ‘the new normal’ and swiftly the number of cases rose from one on Sunday, to 15 on Tuesday to almost 90 on Thursday. This cluster is the largest rise in cases recorded since the beginning of the de-escalation process began when the government has logged around 40 individual outbreaks across Spain. The centre tested all staff and migrant residents in a bid to contain the outbreak and it was decided to confine almost 100 people to the centre. A team of contact tracers has since been at work to track down possible contacts of those who live and work at the centre. Rumours had been circulating that the Málaga outbreak originated with the arrival of a boatload of immigrants last weekend. However, officials were keen to quash these rumours - especially since the first positive case detected at the centre was actually a Red Cross worker, and that the people who arrived to Spain by boat did not actually end up at the CAED centre in Málaga, nor did they have
Spain not out of the woods yet - Fernando Simón
any contact with staff or residents there. The Andalucían authorities have ruled out rolling the region back to a stricter phase of de-escalation, claiming that the outbreak is very much under control. Meanwhile, four districts in Huesca were moved back into Phase 2 when an outbreak of 12 positive cases was detected among seasonal fruit pickers there. Since the 12 cases were detected, the four districts were closely monitored and it is estimated that a total of 250 positive cases of Covid-19 have been identified – although 95% of the cases were asymptomatic. In Extremadura, a search and arrest order was issued for an individual – believed to be an undocumented migrant – who has been identified as the centre of an outbreak of 21 cases in a small town there. 54 people (including the 21 who tested positive) remain in self
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isolation as an attempt to control the transmission of the virus. The man police are searching for arrived to Spain by boat at the end of May. He arrived on a small vessel which was carrying 20 other migrants and when intercepted on arrival, was taken to a housing shelter in Navalmoral de la Mata, the small town now suffering the outbreak. Officials from the humanitarian organisation which arranged the man’s transfer confirmed that he was not presenting any symptoms at the time of his arrival. Days later when a migrant who arrived on the same boat, but was housed elsewhere in Spain, tested positive for Covid-19, contact tracers began to track the other arrivals and the outbreak in Navalmoral de la Mata was discovered. Regional health chief for Extremadura, José María Vergeles, warned: “Those who believe that we are already free of the
virus, that we can lead normal lives without living alongside the virus, are wrong.” However, while caution is still paramount, there is some positive news in Spain. Asturias became the first ‘Covid19 free’ region of Spain having gone 14 days without registering a new case. According to reports from the Health Ministry, Asturias became the first Spanish region to surpass the 14 day barrier – an important benchmark. However, officials don’t hold out much hope that the figures there will remain at zero especially given that summer visitors are expected to arrive to the region. Madrid also reported its first day with no Covid-19 related deaths on Sunday. In a statement on Twitter, regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso, announced that the death rate remained static on Sunday, saying it was “great news”.