COVID-19 pandemic in Spain
The COVID-19 pandemic in Spain has resulted in 13,980,340[4] confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 121,852[4] deaths.
The virus was first confirmed to have spread to Spain on 31 January 2020, when a German tourist tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in La Gomera, Canary Islands.[3] Post-hoc genetic analysis has shown that at least 15 strains of the virus had been imported, and community transmission began by mid-February.[7] By 13 March, cases had been confirmed in all 50 provinces of the country.
A partially unconstitutional lockdown was imposed on 14 March 2020.[8][9] On 29 March, it was announced that, beginning the following day, all non-essential workers were ordered to remain at home for the next 14 days.[10] By late March, the Community of Madrid has recorded the most cases and deaths in the country. Medical professionals and those who live in retirement homes have experienced especially high infection rates.[11] On 25 March, the official death toll in Spain surpassed that of mainland China.[12] On 2 April, 950 people died of the virus in a 24-hour period—at the time, the most by any country in a single day.[13] On 17 May, the daily death toll announced by the Spanish government fell below 100 for the first time,[14] and 1 June was the first day without deaths by COVID-19.[15] The state of alarm ended on 21 June.[16] However, the number of cases increased again in July in a number of cities including Barcelona, Zaragoza and Madrid, which led to reimposition of some restrictions but no national lockdown.[17][18][19][20]
Studies have suggested that the number of infections and deaths may have been underestimated due to lack of testing and reporting, and many people with only mild or no symptoms were not tested.[21][22] Reports in May suggested that, based on a sample of more than 63,000 people, the number of infections may be ten times higher than the number of confirmed cases by that date, and Madrid and several provinces of Castilla–La Mancha and Castile and León were the most affected areas with a percentage of infection greater than 10%.[23][24] There may also be as many as 15,815 more deaths according to the Spanish Ministry of Health monitoring system on daily excess mortality (Sistema de Monitorización de la Mortalidad Diaria – MoMo).[25] On 6 July 2020, the results of a Government of Spain nationwide seroprevalence study showed that about two million people, or 5.2% of the population, could have been infected during the pandemic.[26][27] Spain was the second country in Europe (behind Russia) to record half a million cases.[28] On 21 October, Spain passed 1 million COVID-19 cases, with 1,005,295 infections and 34,366 deaths reported, a third of which occurred in Madrid.[29]
As of September 2021, Spain is one of the countries with the highest percentage of its population vaccinated (76% fully vaccinated and 79% with the first dose),[30] while also being one of the countries more in favor of vaccines against COVID-19 (nearly 94% of its population is already vaccinated or wants to be).[31]
As of 4 February 2023, a total of 112,304,453 vaccine doses have been administered.[32]
Background
On 12 January, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, who had initially come to the attention of the WHO on 31 December 2019.[33][34]
Spread to other countries and territories
On 29 February 2020, a woman who had arrived in Ecuador on 14 February from Spain tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 and became the first case of coronavirus in the country.[308] On 13 March 2020, the first death (the first Ecuadorian infection case) was reported by the Minister of Public Health of Ecuador, Catalina Andramuño, during a press conference in Guayaquil.[309] Many of the earlier cases in Ecuador were imported by wealthy Ecuadorian students who were studying abroad and returned home.[310]
On 6 March, Peruvian Ministry of Health and President confirmed the first case in the country from a 25-year-old man who visited Spain, France and Czech Republic.[311]
On 8 March, Portugal confirmed a case originating from Spain.[312] On 10 March, a further case was detected and the following day (11 March) another three cases.[313][314]
On 10 March, a 40-year-old woman returning from Madrid, Spain was confirmed as the first case in Panama.[315]
On 10, March, Honduras confirmed two cases of Coronavirus. The first patient, or patient zero, was a pregnant woman who came from Spain on 4 March but was confirmed in the early morning of 10 March.[316]
On 13 March, Venezuelan Vice-president Delcy Rodríguez confirmed two cases of the virus in the state of Miranda.[317][318]
On 14 March, it was reported that a woman coming from the Spanish city of Móstoles became the first case in Equatorial Guinea.[319]
On 17 March, a 47-year-old male Spanish national doing business in Macau tested positive; he took Flight SU2501 from Madrid to Moscow on 15 March, and then the Flight SU204 from Moscow to Beijing. On 16 March, he took Flight NX001 from Beijing to Macau, arriving at Macau Airport at 8:00 pm the same day.[320]
On 20 March, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea James Marape confirmed the first case in the country, from a mine worker who had travelled from Spain.[321]
Media related to COVID-19 pandemic in Spain at Wikimedia Commons