MADRID (Reuters) – Spain’s death toll from COVID-19 rose by 513 on Friday to 58,319, in one of the highest one-day increases since the first wave of the pandemic, health ministry data showed.
It said 38,118 new infections had also been detected, off last week’s record of 44,357.
And pressure on hospitals continued to rise, with 44% of all intensive care beds occupied by COVID-19 patients.
In another alarming sign, the Madrid region reported on Friday an outbreak in a nursing home that has caused 11 deaths and infected all its 48 residents, as well as 17 staff.
El Pais newspaper said the home, in the mountains near the capital, had escaped the deadly first wave that tore through care homes across Spain in March and April last year.
Meanwhile, doctors complained about recent delays in vaccine deliveries that forced several regions, including Madrid, to stop vaccinating new people from priority groups, such as medics, and only administer second shots to those who have already received a first dose.
Photo – A nurse from the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Morales Meseguer Hospital changes the respirator of a patient admitted for COVID-19, in the coastal city of Murcia in eastern Spain, 29 January 2021. Anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, insomnia or cognitive impairment are some of the sequelae that COVID-19 leaves behind in a very significant percentage of patients who have overcome the disease, despite the fact that there is little scientific literature on these consequences because the first two waves of the pandemic focused mainly on studying damage to the pulmonary system. EPA-EFE/Marcial Guillen
