LapLap

Sunday 8th March

11:40 (CET)
First I want to share this:
https://elpais.com/Comentario/158366...d5e83d7?gla=es
Fernando Simón, director del Centro de Emergencias y Alertas Sanitarias: "La calidad de casos que tenemos tiene mucho que ver con el cambio de fase y de visión a la hora de implementar medidas. Las decisiones tomadas por Italia reducen la posibilidad de casos importados de este país. Hasta ahora no tenemos cadenas de transmisión descontrolada en la mayoría de las situaciones. Solo hay riesgo en el País Vasco y Madrid, pero las investigaciones hasta la fecha indican que la transmisión no se ha incrementado o está relacionada con focos ya detectados".
Fernando Simón, director of the Emergency and Health Alerts Centre: "The kind of cases we have have a lot to do with the change of phase as well as our approach when implementing measures. The decisions taken by Italy reduce the possibility of imported cases in this country. So far, in most situations, we have no uncontrolled transmission chains. There is only risk* in the Basque Country and Madrid, but research to date indicates that transmission has not increased or is related to foci/clusters already detected "

(*of non imported or local transmission)

This is the official answer to why groups and congregations are still being allowed.

12:40 (CET) first update
589 infected - 13 dead
Exceptional measures have been taken in Haro (the La Rioja town bordering the Basque Country where residents took part in a funeral in Vitoria). Whilst it isn’t a Wuhan or Lombardy style lockdown, the Guardia Civil are enforcing isolation amongst a significant proportion of the population. (Edit to add - by “population” I mean the population of Haro)
Fernando Simón has given out the following data for the rest of the country. Murcia (land of heroes) gets its first documented case.
There are 35 cases in Andalucía, 13 in Aragon, 7 in Asturias, 8 in Balearic Islands, 17 in Canarias, 12 in Cantabria, 15 in Castilla-La Mancha, 22 in Castilla y León, 49 in Catalonia, 37 in Valencia, 6 in Extremadura, 5 in Galicia, 202 in Madrid, 1 in Murcia, 3 in Navarra, 102 in the Basque Country and 55 in La Rioja".

13:30 (CET) 2nd update
605 infected - 17 dead
https://elpais.com/sociedad/2020-03-...n-directo.html

6pm (CET) 3rd update
8-M (Women’s Day 8th March) demonstrations are underway in Madrid, Barcelona and other cities around Spain. Whilst there will cumulatively be a great number of participants, within Madrid I’m not seeing the same numbers or concentration of those who attended “la crida” - the opening festival last Sunday for the Fallas in Valencia.
https://elpais.com/sociedad/dia-de-l...n-directo.html
Another difference between these demonstrations and a fiesta is that people aren’t sharing beers and Litre containers of kalimotxo and other mixed drinks.

7:30pm (CET) 4th update
Madrid (having already closed day care centres for the elderly across the Madrid Region) has announced that visits to elderly residents of geriatric centres will be severely limited. Only those that are strictly necessary will be allowed and then only whilst using a clinical mask.
https://elpais.com/Comentario/158368...35568e4?gla=es

Seems a bit late for this advice (apparently it was given out at about 2pm by Salvador Illa the Health Minister) , but Spaniards are strongly discouraged from attending any of the marches (and one would presume other large gatherings) is they are experiencing any symptoms similar to those of Covid-19.

8:20pm (CET) 5th update
Have just been reading La Vanguardia’s impression that the extreme actions taken in Lombardy and Northern Italy have given Spain a breather and allowed this country to hold off on escalating controls and preventive measures... for now at least. Spain has said it is very grateful to Italy.
https://www.lavanguardia.com/vida/20...ronavirus.html

9:20pm (CET) 6th update
Am including a link to this (Spanish) summary as it brings together a lot of the points I’ve recorded.
What is new is a discussion by the Health Ministry about how they believe that, with this threat where 80% of cases are relatively mild, the importance of self care, and in acting responsibly (self isolation, regular hand washing, care when coughing or sneezing) will have a greater collective impact than any actions or directives by the Health Authorities - the conclusion is that personal responsibility is the best hope for Spain.
https://elpais.com/sociedad/2020-03-...ronavirus.html

Final update - looking at the mid-day news on the 9th March, the actual number of confirmed cases for today was 673 and 17 deaths. (But is was Sunday when lass staff are at work.)

The_Bouncer

I'm glad there is some sanity in the world.

LapLap

A different kind of update - using the country comparison tool in this website
https://avatorl.org/covid-19/?page=CompareCountries
(have ignored the “fuse lighting” period when the virus first takes hold as this varies so much from country to country.


Comparison between Spain and Italy (with today’s figures for Spain added - although the figure was apparently 673 rather than 605, which means the mirroring is very close)

and...


Spain and the U.K. (yesterday’s figures - UK has given out today’s total as 273 with 2 deaths)

invisible

So does bolding above mean banning public gatherings as well?

LapLap

I’m not sure you understand what is happening in Haro in La Rioja.
It is a tiny town, not many more than 1,000 people. A lot of the people from Haro went to the neighbouring Basque region to a town called Vitoria and took part in a funeral service there.
The Authorities discovered that there were a lot of cases emerging and traced it to the funeral and used testing to confirm 60 cases of residents of Haro. Working through transmission routes from these confirmed cases, more “at risk” people were identified within Haro and so a great swathe of the population of this small town has been put into quarantine/isolation. The Guardia Civil (which is another level of police) are there to not just enforce but facilitate the isolation.
So yes, a public gathering involving people who need to undertake quarantine in Haro would not be permitted. And any of those people who wanted to travel to Madrid to take part in the Women’s Day M-8 Protests would be prevented from doing so.
Bans on attending gathering are also in place for certain key workers.

The bolded part of what I said is specific to the situation that was being described.

invisible

Now I do, thank you.

So, authorities established that there was local transmission ongoing and introduced and enforced local quarantine. Correct?

If so, do I understand correctly that the same type of measures will be taken if similar incident will occur in other place? In other words - they will react (once bomb explodes) but don't do preventive measures (like banning gatherings)?

Separate question - how population is treating what is going on right now? Did people's behavior start change or life as usual?

LapLap

I don’t have access to the reasons behind the decisions being made, am working it out on the fly. As was alluded to in today’s press release “The kind of cases we have have a lot to do with the change of phase as well as our approach when implementing measures*”, until the data they are receiving triggers certain changes/escalations they are sticking to the protocols that dictate their actions. The percentage ratio of imported vs local transmission - within those current protocols - obviously hasn’t reached the point that triggers harsher containment/curtailment measures, except in very limited scenarios which include, but are not limited to, the prison in Aranjuez, various hospitals around the country, day care centres for the elderly and the town of Haro.

I had a talk with my Valencian mother this morning (although she’d hate me calling her that as she is a proud Alicantinian), she felt that the authorities would be unable to prevent the main Fallas festival in Valencia from taking place. I disagree, and I think it is precisely because there has been no incidences (the Sports events involving International fans is the sole exception) of Spanish population control “on the off chance” or with a “let’s just be safe” mentality that, should solid, demonstrable, evidence based reasons be put forward to cancel the festival, Valencia will comply. But without that defendable, water-tight evidence the political risk is too high - co-operation by local authorities and the populace is vital over the coming weeks - this isn’t a time to recklessly impose authority and burn bridges
We will know within a week if Spain is correct to keep to their current protocols. There are leaders within that sector who must have nerves of steel right now.

As the ratio of imported to local transmissions changes, new approaches, new “visions” will be implemented. All I can do is watch, and keep note. There are a lot of lessons to learn, I’ve already been schooled and had to let go of some of own assumptions and prejudices.

* quote by Fernando Simón, director of the Emergency and Health Alerts Centre

The_Bouncer

I am currently in the Málaga area and absolutely everything is happening completely normally.

LapLap

As The_Bouncer will attest, not much will have seemed to have changed. But with over 200 elderly day care centres closed in Madrid, and there will probably be more to follow around the country soon, health care workers prevented from travelling to see and share information with each other, more and more meetings and conferences are being cancelled, more and more clusters are appearing (was told verbally about one in Elda - a manufacturing region in Alicante where someone who went to a trade fair in Milan brought back the virus and it has been spreading in that area), attitudes are slowly changing as more and more people know people who are directly affected.
The first case in Murcia involves a 27 year old female who has been affected seriously enough to be hospitalised, she was infected in Madrid. Over 150 tests had been made previously in Murcia in an attempt to pro-actively uncover cases. Almost all of the recorded deaths so far involve victims who were very old and frail. For now, there are still plenty of Spaniards who want “business as usual” no matter what with regards to the coming festival season and their attitude is “if you don’t like it, stay indoors,”. Then again, there are many more who are already feeling great concern.
That the politicians have backed off and let the Health Authorities take the reign I think is fantastic. We may find out with hindsight that grave mistakes are being made, but I think I have come to understand (and I fully support) the underlying logic of the approach being taken.

I’ve never been prouder to be a Spaniard.

LapLap

Monday 9th March

ADDITIONAL NOTE - I have seen links to this document (In English) which has today’s date
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/l...567-5/fulltext
it describes in detail the reasons behind much of the decisions that are being taken (and which might potentially be taken)

11:40 (CET) Number of confirmed cases in the Madrid area has risen from yesterday’s 202 to 436. Madrid had already said it was moving out of phase one (containment) into phase 2 (delay). I don’t expect there to be any more legal demonstrations within Madrid for some time now.

Three schools have been closed in the Basque region. One of the schools has been in Vitoria (where the Haro Funeral took place and where hospitals have been severely affected by swathes of health workers being removed from work to complete quarantine), and also in Vitoria an old people’s care residence has been put into quarantine.
https://elpais.com/sociedad/2020-03-...n-directo.html

12:50 (CET) current tally of confirmed cases (death toll is now 25)
https://elpais.com/Comentario/1583753191-80939ed3f775f16d99c32d7e5fa63786?gla=es
Madrid 469, Valencia: 37, La Rioja: 81, Basque Region: 149, Catalonia: 75, Andalucía: 54, Castilla-La Mancha: 26, Castilla y León: 23, Cantabria: 12, Canary Islands: 22, Aragón: 13, Extremadura: 7, Balearic Islands: 11, Asturias: 7, Navarra: 3, Galicia: 6, Murcia: 4
Total: 999

2:15pm (CET)
Vitoria - which is the main city of Álava/Araba, one of the regions of the Basque Country - has (in addition to the measures mentioned earlier) closed all its schools and educational centres for two weeks.
https://elpais.com/Comentario/158375...438f97a?gla=es

Since Valencia has not entered the same phase as Madrid and the Basque Region, there are still no plans to cancel the Fallas Festival
https://elpais.com/Comentario/158375...881692e?gla=es

2:45pm (CET)
figures of confirmed cases now are 1,033 and 26 deaths

Bars in San Sebastián in the Basque Country have been told to keep all their pintxos (Basque tapas) covered as “a preventative measure, for public health and for hygiene”
https://elpais.com/Comentario/158376...9ba6ede?gla=es

It seems that another focus/cluster has been revealed in the Aragón area with more and more confirmed cases at an old people’s home there.
https://elpais.com/Comentario/158375...b7500f7?gla=es

The Main Government has been working on a “plan de choque” (Impact Plan?) for the past two weeks, details of which are expected to be announced shortly.
https://elpais.com/Comentario/158375...144a35f?gla=es

10:15pm (CET)
a bit busy now (haven’t gone the time I need to give the appropriate amount of updates) this Impact Plan has been a true Choque.
Schools in the Madrid area are about to close.The end of the School year is in May and there is concern being voiced that children won’t have access to the materials and tutoring needed to pass the exam that lets them move to the next year.
Supermarkets throughout the region are currently full of parents desperately trying to stock up at home (children will have no access to school meals - the idea of your kids not eating enough is beyond taboo for most Spaniards.

New advice is as follows:
Realizar turnos escalonados en los centros de trabajo.
- Implementar el teletrabajo.

- Flexibilizar el horario laboral.

- Evitar las reuniones presenciales.

Para toda España, el Ministerio de Sanidad recomienda:

- Fomentar el cuidado domiciliario de los mayores.

- Las personas más vulnerables, con enfermedades crónicas o pluritipatologías, deben limitar sus salidas y su actividad social.

- Si se sienten síntomas asociados a la Covid-19, Sanidad pide que el paciente se quede en su domicilio y llame para que se le realicen las pruebas de la enfermedad.

- Prestar especial cuidado a la higiene personal.

- Evitar los viajes innecesarios.

El ministro de Sanidad, Salvador Illa, ha asegurado que se anunciarán más medidas este martes.

(mostly) machine translation is:
Perform staggered shifts at work centers.

- Implement teleworking.

- Make working hours more flexible.

- Avoid face-to-face meetings.

For all of Spain, the Ministry of Health recommends:

- Promote home care for the elderly.

- The most vulnerable people, with chronic diseases or pluritipatologies (a combination of problems) should limit their outings and their social activity.

- If symptoms associated with Covid-19 are felt, the Health Authority asks that the patient stay at home and call for testing.

- Pay special attention to personal hygiene.

- Avoid unnecessary travel.

The Minister of Health, Salvador Illa will announce more measures this Tuesday.

There are at least 1,100 confirmed cases and 28 deaths

The_Bouncer

The "Impact Plan" sounds a bit ominous. However, the Spanish response has been comparatively measured so far, so I can't see any Italian style lockdowns happening soon. Personal liberties are highly valued in Spain.

LapLap

I’m certain there’s a lot of focus on Italy’s measures right now to see if there is a discernible impact. There are more draconian measures being discussed but Spain must be feeling privileged that they have this chance to acquire real evidence before implementing them.
As for that Impact Plan, it hasn’t been disclosed yet. Which is ominous...

There is also going to be a lot of focus on the weather in the coming days because (and for me this is BIG news) come Wednesday there is going to be a significant heatwave hitting the country. We’ll get a June preview with temperatures over 30C (the forecast is for 90F in some places). There may be no discernible effect with regards to transmissions, and if that’s the case, I will lower my hopes accordingly, but it there is... that would be wonderful news.
https://elpais.com/espana/2020-03-09...33-grados.html

The_Bouncer

Virus aside, I can certainly handle a bit of 30°C!

LapLap

Tuesday 10th March
7:15am (CET)
This might be my last day of pre-Covid-19 normality in the real world (offline) where I get to do things that will soon become impossible for a while.
This is what stood out this morning:
Madrid’s Health Services don’t feel they are in a place to cope with this. The local population increased by 500,000 people in the past ten years whilst Health Staff decreased by 1,300.
2,000 additional workers had been promised to assist with the flu season (which ends 31st March) this promise wasn’t realised.
They’ve seen an increase of laboratories used for testing increase from 4, 5, 6 and now 7 - the saturation point.
300 new staff have just been hired and the 1,300 that had been contracted for flu season have had their contracts extended.
Hospital beds have been purchased.
Other problems involve not having enough equipment, masks, gloves etc...
Worries about how the system will cope and accept new patients as beds are already filling up with those affected.

And Healthcare workers are finding their home lives hard with family and friends changing the way that act around them as they are seen as a source of infection.
https://elpais.com/espana/madrid/202...ronavirus.html

numbers of registered cases this morning for Spain are 1,236 and 30 dead

17:40 (CET)
Sanidad prohíbe los actos con más de 1.000 personas en Madrid, Vitoria, Labastida y La Rioja
The Health Authorities will no longer allow events and gatherings involving more than 1,000 people in the Madrid area, in La Rioja nor in the specific regions of Vitoria and Labastida in the Basque Country (Labastida is the Basque region that directly borders Haro in La Rioja)
https://elpais.com/sociedad/2020-03-...-la-rioja.html

Until the 25th March, Spain has banned all direct flights from Italy to Spain
https://elpais.com/economia/2020-03-10/espana-prohibe-los-vuelos-directos-desde-italia.html

this is news I didn’t want to translate - and I don’t have to!
”Secretary general of Spain’s far-right Vox party tests positive for coronavirus
Javier Ortega Smith was recently at an event that attracted 9,000 people in Madrid, where the number of Covid-19 cases has risen sharply

Following the news, Spain’s lower house announced that all parliamentary activity would be suspended for a week.”

https://english.elpais.com/society/2...ronavirus.html

There is also gossip surfacing about Santiago Abascal, the president of the Vox Party, shaking hands with Ted Cruz in the USA recently.

Number of confirmed cases in Spain is now 1,680 - 36 dead

LATE AT NIGHT
It’s happened. Valencia are suspending the Fallas - they hope to hold it at a later (to yet be confirmed) date
La Magdalena in Castellón (which attracts up to 130,000 people) has also been suspended
English link: https://www.theolivepress.es/spain-n...rism-industry/
Spanish link - https://elpais.com/sociedad/2020-03-...l-domingo.html

FOR COMPLETION
there was discussion about cancelling/postponing the local elections in the region of Galicia. These are due to take place on the 5th April.
https://elpais.com/Comentario/158387...47f7af7?gla=es

LapLap

Spain is still mirroring Italy’s numbers - Spain’s population is about 46 million, Italy’s 60 million (about 30% more)