No new coronavirus deaths in the last 24 hours, Health Ministry reports

The Health Ministry on Monday reported no new coronavirus-related deaths in Spain over the last 24 hours, the first time that this has happened since the crisis began. There was also a further fall in new infections, with 71 confirmed positives since the previous day compared to 96 the day before.

Sources from the ministry, however, confirmed that this does not necessarily mean that there were no Covid-19 deaths on Sunday, but simply that none were reported by the country’s regions.

There have been 239,638 confirmed infections in Spain, according to the latest data

Since the start of the health crisis in the country, there have been a total of 27,127 Covid-19-related deaths according to official figures, which are based on fatalities where a PCR test confirmed the victim had been infected with the virus. However, between March 1 and May 12, Spain recorded 43,295 more deaths than what would be considered normal for this time of the year, based on past mortality rates. This is up 52% from the expected deaths for the period.

There have been 239,638 confirmed infections in Spain, according to the latest data. The Health Ministry also reported today that there were 35 coronavirus-related deaths in the last week in Spain.

The figures should be viewed with some caution, given that the Health Ministry is currently reviewing the historical series of coronavirus data, so that the daily figures better reflect the progress of the epidemic as Spain progresses with the government’s deescalation of confinement measures. The biggest adjustment came last week, when the ministry revised the total number of fatalities downward by nearly 2,000, due, it said, to duplications and other factors.

The reports that the ministry has been publishing for the last week do not contain the daily data, but rather the accumulated numbers over the last seven days. This avoids a fatality that took place earlier in the week but has only just been reported from being registered in the figures for the last 24 hours.

In fact, the Valencia region notified two coronavirus deaths on Sunday and three today. But the fact that no fatalities were registered in the last 24 hours points to the fact that these victims passed away earlier in the week.

It should also be noted that there has been underreporting of figures on Sundays and Mondays during the coronavirus crisis, given the lower staffing levels in hospitals at weekends.

The number of daily coronavirus deaths peaked on April 2, when a total of 950 were registered.

Seven territories saw no new cases at all in the last 24 hours

According to today’s figures, most of the new infections were detected in Madrid, with 18, and Catalonia, with 16. These regions have been the hardest hit by the coronavirus epidemic. Castilla y León saw 11, while the Valencia region detected six.

Seven territories saw no new cases at all in the last 24 hours: Cantabria, Extremadura, Galicia, Melilla, Murcia, the Basque Country and La Rioja. Eight areas, meanwhile, have not seen a single Covid-19 death in the last week. They are the Balearic Islands, Cantabria, Castilla-La Mancha, Ceuta, Melilla, Murcia, Navarre and the Basque Country.

The latest data also shows just nine admissions to intensive care units (ICUs) this last week, and 245 hospitalizations. In total, 11,399 people have been admitted to ICUs since the health crisis began, and 123,879 have required hospitalization.

English version by Simon Hunter.