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COVID-19

Spain records lowest daily coronavirus death toll in more than a month

Spain recorded 367 people deaths from novel coronavirus over the past 24 hours, the lowest daily number of fatalities in four weeks, the government said on Friday.

Published: 24 April 2020 14:47 CEST
Spain records lowest daily coronavirus death toll in more than a month
A healthcare worker offers a book and a rose to a cured coronavirus patient as she is discharged from the field hospital in Barcelona. Photo: AFP

It is the smallest number of new coronavirus deaths since March 22nd when 394 deaths were recorded.

The number brought the country's total deaths to 22,524, the third-highest number in the world after the United States and Italy.   

More people were diagnosed as recovered than as infected over 24 hours for the first time since the start of the pandemic, the health ministry's emergencies coordinator Fernando Simón told a news conference.


The overall number of hospitalizations (blue), admittance into ICU (yellow) deaths (red) and recoveries (green) are shown in the chart below, which reveals that the curve of the number of hospital admittances is flattening. Data: Ministry of Health.

There were 2,796 new infections confirmed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, or swab tests, over the past 24 hours, while 3,105 people overcame the infection, he said.

“We can say there is some good news,” Simón added.   

But the total number of new cases was up by 6,740 in the last 24 hours when those detected by antibody tests were included, bringing the overall number of infections to 219,764 from 213,024 the day before.

Spain has been ramping up the use of antibody tests which show whether a patient's immune system has developed defences against the coronavirus, meaning they have been infected in the past.


The graph shows the total number of confirmed cases across Spain.  Data: Ministry of Health.

Spanish health officials believe the epidemic peaked on April 2nd when 950 people died over 24 hours, nearly three weeks after the government imposed a nationwide lockdown that effectively confined almost 47 million citizens to home to slow the spread of the virus.   

Parliament on Wednesday authorised the government to extend the state of emergency for two more weeks until May 9.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez signalled that the government could begin to ease its restrictions — some of the tightest in Europe — during the second half of May, but warned that “de-escalation will be slow”.

He has said the government may phase out restrictions by sectors and geographical areas, letting less-affected areas return to normal life first.   

A first step to ease confinement will be taken at the weekend, when children will be allowed out for walks accompanied by an adult.

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COVID-19

Public Health Agency recommends two Covid doses next year for elderly

Sweden's Public Health Agency is recommending that those above the age of 80 should receive two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine a year, once in the spring and once in the autumn, as it shifts towards a longer-term strategy for the virus.

Published: 23 December 2022 10:53 CET
Public Health Agency recommends two Covid doses next year for elderly

In a new recommendation, the agency said that those living in elderly care centres, and those above the age of 80 should from March 1st receive two vaccinations a year, with a six month gap between doses. 

“Elderly people develop a somewhat worse immune defence after vaccination and immunity wanes faster than among young and healthy people,” the agency said. “That means that elderly people have a greater need of booster doses than younger ones. The Swedish Public Health Agency considers, based on the current knowledge, that it will be important even going into the future to have booster doses for the elderly and people in risk groups.” 

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People between the ages of 65 and 79 years old and young people with risk factors, such as obesity, diabetes, poor kidney function or high blood pressure, are recommended to take one additional dose per year.

The new vaccination recommendation, which will start to apply from March 1st next year, is only for 2023, Johanna Rubin, the investigator in the agency’s vaccination programme unit, explained. 

She said too much was still unclear about how long protection from vaccination lasted to institute a permanent programme.

“This recommendation applies to 2023. There is not really an abundance of data on how long protection lasts after a booster dose, of course, but this is what we can say for now,” she told the TT newswire. 

It was likely, however, that elderly people would end up being given an annual dose to protect them from any new variants, as has long been the case with influenza.

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