Spain is the EU country with the highest number of people diagnosed with COVID19

USPA NEWS - Spain is already the European country with the highest number of people diagnosed with Coronavirus, per 100,000 inhabitants. Within the country, seven regions - Aragon, Madrid, the Basque Country, Navarra, the Balearic Islands, Catalonia and La Rioja, in that order - have the highest number of cases, above the national average, which stands at 131.12 infected by every 100,000 inhabitants.

Spanish health authorities are concerned, above all, with Aragon. This region of northern Spain, between Catalonia, to the east, and La Rioja, to the west, presents the worst figures with 516.57 cases diagnosed by COVID-19 per 100,000 inhabitants and well above Madrid, second in this ranking, with 251.48 diagnosed cases. The North African autonomous city of Ceuta, with 30.67 cases diagnosed per 100,000 inhabitants, and the region of Asturias, on the Spanish north coast, with 31.38 cases, are the areas with the lowest incidence of the Coronavirus.

Since the start of the pandemic, 364,196 cases of COVID-19 have been diagnosed in Spain. Of these, 130,015 have required hospital admission. Of this number, 11,992 have been treated in hospital ICUs. A total of 28,670 patients have died. Spain, which imposed a harsh three-month confinement, has registered since June 21, when it returned to supervised normality, more than 1,000 outbreaks of Coronavirus. According to the health authorities, the confinement paid off and the outbreaks now registered are due to the relaxation of regional authorities and citizens.

The Spanish Ministry of Health explains that some regional governments, in their desire to restart the economy, were in a hurry to reduce the phases of confinement and lowered their guard by allowing the opening of bars, restaurants and discos without sufficient guarantees. And citizens, who for three months endured the harshest confinement of all EU countries, also lowered their guard when they regained freedom, forgetting that the Coronavirus is still present.

The warning to citizens focuses on young people. Those who are not old enough to enter bars and discos, buy drinks in stores and consume them on the street, in groups, sometimes of hundreds of young people and without security measures. And older people go to bars without keeping the safety distance recommended by health experts. Therefore, points out the Ministry of Health, the average age of those infected by COVID-19 has dropped to 40 years and there have been cases of children diagnosed with the disease.

For now, the health authorities say, the situation is under control. But the Spanish Government warns that, if the number of infections continues to rise, drastic measures will be adopted to contain the pandemic. This summer, many Spaniards are on vacation on the beaches or in second homes. The question is what will happen when they return home and return to work in September.