Ambulances brought patients to hospitals in Madrid on Friday as Spain’s 14-day infection rate fell to 540 cases per 100 000 people, health ministry data showed on Thursday. This is the lowest level since 14 January and well below the peak of 900 cases reached two weeks ago.
Despite the drop in infection rate, Spain’s health emergency chief Fernando Simon insisted Spain was still in a bad state.
“We all have to recognise that this is not over, we are still in the midst of controlling the pandemic and we need to be very careful with what we do,” he told a news conference on Thursday, as he showed a map of Spain coloured in red.
The overall number of cases rose by 17 853 to 3.04 million, while the death toll climbed by 513 to 64 217.
As authorities begin to inoculate a broader section of society with the recently approved Astra Zeneca shot, Madrid’s regional government said it would convert stadiums and other big venues into vaccination centres.
