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Spain is already facing a “second wave” of the new coronavirus pandemic, defends a study developed by a hospital and a university in Catalonia known this Sunday, warning that it may reach other European countries in the coming days.
The study, dated September 2, is signed by the Germas Trias i Pujol University Hospital in Badalona (Barcelona) and by the Polytechnic University of Catalonia and has since been sent to the European Commission. Entitled Analysis and forecast of covid-19 for the European Union (EU) – European Free Trade Association (EFTA) – United Kingdom, in the Portuguese translation, the study warns the European authorities that the current moment is crucial to catch a second wave.
If nothing is done in this direction, the researchers warn, Europe could return to a situation similar to that of March, when an uncontrolled transmission of the new coronavirus broke out. In the document, the researchers question why Spain leads the number of new cases of contagion in this “second wave”, since it is a country with high temperatures and strong cultural customs that favor outdoor activities.
The two research centers of the autonomous community of Catalonia explain that “the effect of bars and restaurants can have a great impact on the evolution of epidemics”, spaces where prevention measures are much less respected by people than in other circumstances , that is, physical distance and the use of individual protection masks.
The report mentions that the contagion rate is 20 times lower in outdoor spaces compared to the incidence in closed spaces. According to the latest official data, published this Friday by the Spanish Ministry of Health, Spain registered 10,476 new cases of the covid-19 disease that day, an increase of almost 1,500 compared to Thursday, raising to 498,989 the number of infected since the beginning of the pandemic.
For researchers, the key to understanding the current situation in Spain is that the country eliminated restrictions on mobility, especially between provinces, before other EU countries, at a time when “the rate of positive cases could be three times more than what was actually being detected ”. As such, the researchers emphasized, social activity increased significantly.
With almost half a million cases of contagion confirmed since the beginning of the pandemic crisis, Spain remains distant from other European countries, such as Italy (more than 277 thousand cases), France (324,777), the United Kingdom (347,152) or Portugal ( 60,258), according to the most recent data.
Figures cited by the Spanish agency EFE, and referenced in the study, indicate that Spain also distances itself from other European countries when analyzing the incidence of new cases in the last 14 days per 100,000 inhabitants, with 216.8 infections, ahead from France (98.2), Romania (69.9), Ukraine (65.7), Belgium (49.2) and the Netherlands (40.4).
Spain also led, on September 1, the parameter of the total accumulated incidence per one hundred thousand inhabitants in Europe, with 1002 infected, followed by Sweden (837), Belgium (737), Portugal (571), Romania (461), Italy (447), France (438), Holland (415) and Germany (292), according to the same study, cited by EFE.
The alert made in the study already has, in fact, translation in several European countries that are witnessing an increase in the number of infected as society reopens after the confinement and there is a greater circulation of people. For example, France registered 8,975 new cases of covid-19 last Friday, an absolute record since the start of the pandemic in the country.
This Sunday, the UK authorities announced 2,988 new infections from the new coronavirus in the last 24 hours, the highest daily number of new cases since May 23. On Saturday, Portugal registered another 486 new cases of covid-19, a number that was not that high since the start of deflation.
