Cascading coronavirus outbreaks have spread across 15 of Spain’s 17 autonomous regional communities since the state-of-alert lockdown was lifted, with the national Health Ministry reporting Monday that the weekly number of new coronavirus cases has reached the highest level in the past four weeks and the total number of new cases linked to the outbreaks reached 700 over the weekend.
The number of outbreaks of the COVID-19 disease caused by coronavirus has reached 70 and with La Rioja and Asturias the only two autonomous communities to have escaped the outbreaks, an estimated 280,000 people are now confined within their own comarcal regions as the number of active virus cases
The worst-hit areas are in the Catalan province of Lleida and in Galicia’s Lugo province, where confinement measures have been taken to stop community transmission and police have closed off entry and exit to all vehicles. The outbreak in Lleida is the worst so far, with the number of infected people having doubled to more than 500 in the past week. The outbreak is believed to have begun among migrant field workers recently brought in to the area to pick fruit.
The outbreak in Lugo is believed to have originated in several bars and restaurants, which have since been shuttered. As local health authorities expand testing to try to track and trace infections, the confinement of the population and fear of the spread of the virus has led other bars and businesses to close their doors.
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“We know that in these last three days there have been more reported cases, especially due to the outbreaks in Lleida, Galicia and some other autonomous communities, which have reached a total of 700 cases,” said Fernando Simón, director of the Center on Monday. Coordination of Alerts and Health Emergencies.
Confinement has also been imposed on residents of apartment blocks where outbreaks have been detected in Santandar, the capital of Cantabria, and in Albacete.
In addition, Murcia registered two new outbreaks last weekend and several areas around Huesca in Aragon remain in phase 2 of the state-of-alert lockdown, having reversed the opening of local economy at the end of June.
The outbreaks in Lleida, Lugo and in Aragon’s Huesca province, in addition to others that are occurring throughout the national territory, raise the cases diagnosed over the past week to same level as on June 3rd, according to data published in daily reports from the Health Ministry.
On Monday, Spanish health authorities reported three new deaths from the virus registered over the weekend and 78 new infections over the previous 24 hours.
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