Seven weeks after Spain's first coronavirus wave began to recede, the number of confirmed infections is rising sharply again.

Spain was hit hard early in the pandemic, imposing some of the strictest restrictions in Europe. When the country reopened on June 21, there were 8 confirmed cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

Over the past seven days, an average of almost 5,000 new daily cases have been recorded, a higher figure than those for the UK, France, Germany and Italy combined.

This brings Spain's confirmed cases to 95 per 100,000 inhabitants. Some countries have raised a warning finger about the situation, and Germany has urged tourists to avoid traveling to Madrid and the Basque Country.

”"It's a critical moment. We're right at the point where things can get better or worse," says researcher Salvador Macip.

It is estimated that there are around 500 outbreak clusters in Spain.

Joan Cayla, head of Barcelona's tuberculosis investigation unit, which is now focusing on Covid-19, sees several reasons. The fact that the country opened too quickly, partly because of the important tourism sector, is one of them.

Another is that the heat has made people relax more, and gather more with family and friends. A third is that the virus has spread among seasonal workers in the agricultural sector, who often live close together.

More testing, education campaigns and increased contact tracing – three areas where the country has had its shortcomings – are highlighted by Cayla as important to stopping the outbreak.

However, the country's government has pointed out that significantly more tests are now being carried out, that almost half of the new cases do not show any symptoms, that the increase in the death toll has slowed, and that hospitals are far from being overloaded with Covid patients.

Spain has had more than 326,000 people confirmed infected, and the death toll is more than 28,000, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally.

Source: TT