Applause and cheers rang out in May as Spain shut down its largest makeshift hospital – hastily erected in Madrid’s convention center – in what was seen as a symbolic turning point in one of Europe’s deadliest battles with Covid-19.
Less than four months later, Spain’s military has again been dispatched to build a field hospital, this time in the north-eastern city of Zaragoza, as the country grapples with one of the highest rates of infection in western Europe.
“We’re at a critical moment,” said Helena Legido-Quigley, a Barcelona-born professor of public health at the National University of Singapore.
Some eight weeks after the country emerged from one of Europe’s strictest lockdowns, a surge of cases in north-east and central areas has resulted in Spain leading Europe in numbers of confirmed new cases.
The country’s 14-day infection rate stands at 100 per 100,000, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control – behind only Luxembourg in Europe – and much higher than France’s rate of 32 or Italy’s 8.2 cases per 100,000.
The number of deaths remains low, however, with 70 recorded in the past week, hinting at a resurgence of the virus that is distinct from the crisis that devastated the country in March and April.
About 85% of new cases are among people under 65 years old, the country’s emergency health response chief said on Thursday. “Right now, I wouldn’t dare to describe this at all as something like what we experienced in March and April,” Fernando Simón told reporters.
While all regions are seeing a rise in cases, just 3% of hospital beds are currently being occupied by coronavirus patients, he added. “In Spain, there’s no imminent risk of the healthcare system collapsing.”
Still, the rising numbers have sparked fears of a return to the dark days that left Spain with one of the highest excess death tolls in Europe. In the north-eastern region of Aragon, authorities requested that a field hospital be set up in a hospital parking lot in Zaragoza as a precautionary measure. In Madrid, one of the city’s largest hospitals said it had begun canceling non-urgent operations.
On Thursday nine scientific organizations published a joint letter warning that the surge in new cases risks a “collapse” of the health care system. “If the situation continues and new measures are not adopted, there is a high probability that we will again face the situation seen during the state of alarm,” it noted. In the western region of Extremadura, the regional health minister, José Maria Vergeles, told reporters that “without a doubt, we’re seeing a second wave of the coronavirus.”
The Spanish government has pointed to increased testing to explain the numbers. ♦
(The story originally published by The Guardian)
