Coronavirus: new record of infections in Spain with …

The impact of family reunions and Christmas shopping, in addition to the inability to hold meetings outdoors due to the severe cold, delivered a new record number of infections in Spain with 25,438 new positives, as reported by the Minister of Health, Salvador Illa, and 408 deaths. In the past week, the Iberian country ranked fifth in number of infections – behind the US, UK, Brazil and Russia – but Illa excluded from returning to detention.

The head of the health portfolio regretted that the increase in infections was due to relaxation in the accomplishment of care measures and, in particular, the end-of-year holiday periodSpain will therefore have to face the most difficult weeks of a second wave that has settled in the country since mid-December.

Despite infection records and increasing pressure on the healthcare system, Illa has ruled out the possibility of further confinement in Spain and insisted on other types of restrictions to limit mobility and social contact.

Another of the data that worries the government of Pedro Sánchez is the daily increase in the cumulative incidence per 100,000 population, which stands at 454 cases after closing last week at 350.

The regions most affected by the pandemic are Extremadura, the Balearic Islands, Castile-La Mancha, Catalonia and Madrid, where they are also suffering a historic cold snap that could leave the capital in a “disaster zone” situation. According to data from the Ministry of Health, Spain is accumulating 2,137,220 people affected by the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic, of which 52,683 people have died.

Currently 17,645 patients are admitted for Covid-19 across Spain and 2,651 in intensive care units (ICUs), although in the past 24 hours there have been 2,377 admissions and 1,651 discharges . The rate of patients with Covid-19 translates to 14.2% of hospital beds, and the percentage rises to 27% in the ICUs that accommodate the most seriously ill.