Spain announces new state of emergency as COVID infections soar

[webfact]

Spain announces new state of emergency as COVID infections soar

By Belén Carreño and Jessica Jones

 

FILE PHOTO: A closed restaurant is pictured during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Barcelona, Spain, October 14, 2020. REUTERS/ Albert Gea

 

MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced a new state of emergency on Sunday in an effort to curb soaring coronavirus infections, imposing local nighttime curfews and banning travel between regions in some cases.

 

The measures go into force from Sunday night and will require all regions except the Canary Islands to impose a nighttime curfew and limit the number of people allowed to meet to six.

 

"We are living in an extreme situation ... it is the most serious health crisis in the last century," he told a news conference following a cabinet meeting.

 

Catalonia was one of the first regions on Sunday to use the new legislation to impose a curfew, which will take effect at 10 p.m. Establishments open to the public will have to close at 9 p.m.

 

Police were patrolling the city before the curfew took effect and locals welcomed the new rule.

 

"I believe that in a certain way a measure had to be taken because everything was getting a little out of control," said vocational training teacher Paula. "I think more measures will come, but it's a good start."

 

Other regions that announced curfews from Sunday night included Cantabria and La Rioja.

 

Spain imposed one of the toughest lockdowns early on in the pandemic and then relaxed curbs over the summer.

 

But like many other European countries it has seen a second wave hit in recent weeks, and now has one of the highest numbers of infections in Western Europe. Total cases rose to 1,046,132 on Friday, while the death toll is nearing 35,000.

 

The state of emergency will need parliamentary approval to last beyond 15 days. Sanchez asked for parliament to approve its extension up to May 9.

 

A growing number of regions had been calling on the government to implement the measure.

 

The Madrid region had already limited the number of people who could meet inside homes to six, as well as banning the mixing of different households overnight.

 

Canary Islands vice president Roman Rodriguez tweeted he was "satisfied" the tourist hotspot had been excluded from the curfews but encouraged people not to let their guard down.

 

The islands hope to save their tourist season after the UK and Germany decided last week they were no longer a travel risk.

 

The decree will serve as a legal framework to implement a new warning system of levels, similar to the ones already applied in countries such as Germany and France.

 

According to the level of risk, travelling between regions could be banned if a regions decides, except for justified reasons such as working. Movement could also be restricted within regions in localised lockdowns.

 

Most of the regions are already above the parameters to be considered at the highest level of risk.

 

(Reporting by Belén Carreño and Jessica Jones; Editing by Catherine Evans, Frances Kerry and Nick Macfie)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-10-26

 

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[nobodysfriend]

Opposite to a lot of predictions , there is no sign of weakness or fading in the Virus . It seems to become even stronger .

It is a self defense of mother nature against the threat by humans to its self regulated ecosystems .

It clearly shows the way how mankind should behave in the future .

Respect and protect the biosphere , because without it there will be no life worth living it .

Will mankind be intelligent enough to realize this and behave consequently ?

I doubt it .

[dunroaming]

Been reading quite a bit about Long-Covid too.  My neighbour has it and is really struggling, only being able to walk short distances unaided.  He's in his mid forties and until getting Covid some months ago he was a keen squash player.  Distressing to see

[from the home of CC]

they opened up for tourists and are still paying a heavy price for it, the Canaries will be next of course..

[Brunolem]

11 hours ago, webfact said:

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced a new state of emergency on Sunday

Spain doesn't get it...it's too late!

 

Like Thailand, a country needs to be constantly in state of emergency so as to keep the virus out!

 

 

[from the home of CC]

it's so ironic,  a country crushed from its 'hospitality industry"..

[johng]

11 hours ago, webfact said:

The state of emergency will need parliamentary approval to last beyond 15 days. Sanchez asked for parliament to approve its extension up to May 9.

May 9th next year !   ??????

[Oldie]

Europe is a shame. These people never cared much about protection and even demonstrated against it. Now they pay for it and there is no end in sight. I understand that Thais are scared of farangs.  If I am honest I am happy too that it is not easy for them to enter Thailand. Imagine we have such a Corona problem here. No really - I don't want this.

[Brunolem]

2 hours ago, johng said:

May 9th next year !   ??????

No, May 9th 2022...after that there is the football world cup and they need to be free...

[vermin on arrival]

Infections are not the problem it's the hospitalizations and deaths. Lots of infections are in fact good (as long as hospitalizations remain low) as it helps society move forward to the biological fact of herd immunity. Certainly as much care as possible must be made to protect the elderly. The deaths are rising which is a matter of concern. I cannot find hospitalizations, but elsewhere in Europe (France, Italy and Germany for example) where they show the serious or critical cases, it's quite low at 1% or less per nation.

 

Sweden is of course sitting pretty now with only 39 serious cases and single digit mortalities in the nation despite the large rise in cases. Keeping the country relatively open last winter helped them immensely. The lockdowns elsewhere are just making the economic, social and epidemiological problems last much longer.

 

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/sweden/

 

People need to realize the ifr for the disease is in the .1-.6% range. One prominent German virologist put it at .4%. For healthy people in their 40s, there is a 2 in 1000 chance of dying. For children, this disease has a lower mortality rate than the flu. It is for the elderly that there is a serious concern as they are 1000 times more likely to have a fatal case than a younger person and special care must be given to them.

 

https://gbdeclaration.org/frequently-asked-questions/

[Throatwobbler]

13 minutes ago, vermin on arrival said:

Infections are not the problem it's the hospitalizations and deaths. Lots of infections are in fact good (as long as hospitalizations remain low) as it helps society move forward to the biological fact of herd immunity. Certainly as much care as possible must be made to protect the elderly. The deaths are rising which is a matter of concern. I cannot find hospitalizations, but elsewhere in Europe (France, Italy and Germany for example) where they show the serious or critical cases, it's quite low at 1% or less per nation.

 

Sweden is of course sitting pretty now with only 39 serious cases and single digit mortalities in the nation despite the large rise in cases. Keeping the country relatively open last winter helped them immensely. The lockdowns elsewhere are just making the economic, social and epidemiological problems last much longer.

 

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/sweden/

 

People need to realize the ifr for the disease is in the .1-.6% range. One prominent German virologist put it at .4%. For healthy people in their 40s, there is a 2 in 1000 chance of dying. For children, this disease has a lower mortality rate than the flu. It is for the elderly that there is a serious concern as they are 1000 times more likely to have a fatal case than a younger person and special care must be given to them.

 

https://gbdeclaration.org/frequently-asked-questions/

I am glad that you state herd immunity as a biological fact because the scientific community are still not sure about what future immunity catching covid will give you.

 

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02948-4

Edited October 26, 2020 by Throatwobbler

[dastakantattaka]

4 hours ago, from the home of CC said:

they opened up for tourists and are still paying a heavy price for it, the Canaries will be next of course..

There're plenty of nations that haven't opened and the infections are still rising.

 

Therefore, be a country open or not - no difference.

 

[Whale]

7 hours ago, vermin on arrival said:

Sweden is of course sitting pretty now with only 39 serious cases and single digit mortalities in the nation despite the large rise in cases. Keeping the country relatively open last winter helped them immensely.

 

Last winter?

 

 

 

 

[milesinnz]

8 hours ago, dastakantattaka said:

There're plenty of nations that haven't opened and the infections are still rising.

 

Therefore, be a country open or not - no difference.

 

oh, come on... in New Zealand it's never been a big deal. Even the lock down was a breeze because it was done very early. All the infections are from people being allowed into NZ (and everyone seems to be desperate to get here for some reason - I wonder what they is?) but kept in quarantine. I am surprised at the numbers who are coming to NZ who are infected. I would guess covid-19 is far more widespread than anyone is admitting. NZ immigration website has had the biggest number of hits from the US, ever, of people looking how to emigrate to NZ.. I have never worn a mark, and my daily life is perfectly normal...

[Tarteso]

With 52,000 new infections last weekend, the situation is unpredictable.  and the forecast predicts a worsening of the situation...

[Expat Brad]

22 hours ago, from the home of CC said:

they opened up for tourists and are still paying a heavy price for it, the Canaries will be next of course..

1000,000 cases and 35,000 deaths...... Curfews and economic destruction for a 0.3% death rate!!! ???? 

[from the home of CC]

19 hours ago, vermin on arrival said:

Infections are not the problem it's the hospitalizations and deaths. Lots of infections are in fact good (as long as hospitalizations remain low) as it helps society move forward to the biological fact of herd immunity. Certainly as much care as possible must be made to protect the elderly. The deaths are rising which is a matter of concern. I cannot find hospitalizations, but elsewhere in Europe (France, Italy and Germany for example) where they show the serious or critical cases, it's quite low at 1% or less per nation.

 

Sweden is of course sitting pretty now with only 39 serious cases and single digit mortalities in the nation despite the large rise in cases. Keeping the country relatively open last winter helped them immensely. The lockdowns elsewhere are just making the economic, social and epidemiological problems last much longer.

 

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/sweden/

 

People need to realize the ifr for the disease is in the .1-.6% range. One prominent German virologist put it at .4%. For healthy people in their 40s, there is a 2 in 1000 chance of dying. For children, this disease has a lower mortality rate than the flu. It is for the elderly that there is a serious concern as they are 1000 times more likely to have a fatal case than a younger person and special care must be given to them.

 

https://gbdeclaration.org/frequently-asked-questions/

imo doctors who sign onto this nonsense should have their medical licenses revoked - they are a disgrace to the profession and a danger to the public in general..

[from the home of CC]

34 minutes ago, Expat Brad said:

1000,000 cases and 35,000 deaths...... Curfews and economic destruction for a 0.3% death rate!!! ???? 

not all health damage is measured in death rates (at least immediate death rate)

https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/new-study-shows-link-between-covid-19-and-heart-damage-94712389911

[vermin on arrival]

32 minutes ago, from the home of CC said:

imo doctors who sign onto this nonsense should have their medical licenses revoked - they are a disgrace to the profession and a danger to the public in general..

Nonsense. I emphatically disagree. They are taking a much broader view of public health policy and the global consequences of the current policies. The current policies are myopic and will cause much more harm than good. Have you watched the 2 hour summit or given what they said any serious consideration?

 

The WHO has said that globally around 1 billion will fall back below the poverty line due to the economic consequences of the lockdowns and border closures (this will reveres the trend of the last 20 years which saw 1 billion rise above it). Millions of children in the 3rd world will suffer from malnutrition by its estimate. Sunetra Gupta from Oxford (one of the 3 who presented the declaration)stated that 130 million are expected to die from hunger because of these policies; however, I do not know what study this estimate came from.

 

In addition, when assessing the deaths that might occur from allowing infections pass through the less vulnerable groups while protecting the more vulnerable, these experts stated that many more will end up dying in the future from not having proper diagnostics for heart disease, cancer and other diseases. 1.4 million people with tuberculosis in India alone are not receiving care for their illness due to India's covid restrictions on health care. Also, in considering the issue of long haulers, there is a lot of uncertainty about the numbers, but current studies are saying that it is less than 10%; however, it's not clear what the actual number is.

 

In addition, it should be noted that these are not fringe beliefs despite what the mass media has been trying to hammer home in order to manufacture some sort of consent to these policies. Stefan Baral, the epidemiologist from John Hopkins, stated that when discussing his viewpoint with colleagues with whom he disagrees, they took his views seriously and did not dismiss them as some nonsensical and dangerous fringe belief as you do. Dr. Martin Kulldorff, of Harvard University, stated that within his field of expertise, which is public health policy, the majority of his colleagues agreed with him. The perception that there is some broad consensus for the current policies is incorrect.

 

In another post on this issue you said that it was immoral to allow some sort of societal immunity to take place as part of the policy on this issue. I put it to you that the reverse is true. To shut down the global economy in order to protect what will primarily be elderly and sick people in the developed world, who have already lived full lives, and end up killing children, etc. in the 3rd world and destroying the economic lives of many in the younger generations globally(which, in addition, is leading to mental illness and suicides), is actually the selfish and immoral thing to do. In addition, in a kind of practical moral sense, many more will actually end up dying then will result from this illness, which has an ifr between .1% and .6% (probably .3-.4).

 

Realize also that these medical experts are not saying to do nothing and let the disease run it's course. They are talking about focused protection of the most vulnerable while allowing the rest of society to function while the less vulnerable acquire immunity, which in turn will protect the vulnerable and elderly; this has been public health policy 101 for infectious diseases for decades. In the short term, this will be uncomfortable for these vulnerable for they will need to hide away to shield themselves, but the painful process will end more quickly then locking down society and waiting for a vaccine which may never really work well. In addition, the more we rush the vaccine as our sole option, the more likely it will not work well, and it will have dangerous side effects.

[vermin on arrival]

12 hours ago, Whale said:

 

Last winter?

The problems Sweden had last winter were to improper policies in the nursing homes which have since been corrected. They are doing very well now.

[tribalfusion001]

There was a large protest in Barcelona last night and some scuffles with the police due to the 11pm curfew being imposed. This situation was always going to come down to health vs livelihoods, now it is impacting too much into livelihoods. The mainstream media have been complicit in driving the health and vaccine agenda, nothing else matters to them apart from keeping this charade going. Now that the protests in Italy are too big to ignore they are reporting on it. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8882647/Furious-anti-lockdown-protests-erupt-Europe.html

 

 

[nobodysfriend]

21 hours ago, vermin on arrival said:

as it helps society move forward to the biological fact of herd immunity.

Please define " herd immunity " ... There is no proven long lasting immunity to the virus , even in people cured after being infected ...

How can something like " herd immunity " exist , if the individual cannot achieve a lasting immunity ...?

[3NUMBAS]

mankind is doomed for all time .it joins the common cold and flu

[3NUMBAS]

Coronavirus: Oxford vaccine trials offer hope for elderly as lead professor hints approval could come by Christmas

Samuel Lovett

,

The Independent•26 October 2020

 

The Covid-19 vaccine produced by the University of Oxford generates a similar immune response in both younger and older adults, according to the British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, and could be made available for vulnerable patients before the end of the year.

Immunogenicity blood tests carried out on a subset of older trial participants show that the vaccine triggers protective antibodies and T-cells among the elderly — one of the most at-risk age groups.

"It is encouraging to see immunogenicity responses were similar between older and younger adults and that reactogenicity was lower in older adults, where the Covid-19 disease severity is higher," an AstraZeneca spokesperson told Reuters.

"The results further build the body of evidence for the safety and immunogenicity of AZD1222," the spokesperson added, referring to the technical name of the vaccine.

[bartender100]

On 10/26/2020 at 8:55 AM, dunroaming said:

Been reading quite a bit about Long-Covid too.  My neighbour has it and is really struggling, only being able to walk short distances unaided.  He's in his mid forties and until getting Covid some months ago he was a keen squash player.  Distressing to see

Maybe you could mention to him it's been in the papers that Aspirin has been seen to help

 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201022195637.htm

[vermin on arrival]

On 10/27/2020 at 5:51 PM, nobodysfriend said:

Please define " herd immunity " ... There is no proven long lasting immunity to the virus , even in people cured after being infected ...

How can something like " herd immunity " exist , if the individual cannot achieve a lasting immunity ...?

Herd immunity is when it becomes difficult for the virus to propagate itself well in society as people develop resistance to the illness. This does not mean that there will be no cases. It means that the disease will stumble as it tries to infect more and more people and many fewer people will develop serious cases or die.

 

As to your second statement. This is not true and comes from a simplistic understanding of the immune system and immunity. There is ample evidence for a long lived immunity to covid 19. Just because antibodies in the blood disappear after a few month (they do this in general by the way for all diseases since they are no longer unnecessary) it doesn't mean immunity is lost; there is still resistance/protection to the disease in the individual. The estimate is there will be at least 1-2 year immunity as is the case with other coronaviruses.

 

The blood antibody test is also very flawed when trying to determine the number who have been infected as it neglects other antibodies which are found in the mucous and lungs of people, who have no antibodies in their blood, but who were infected and fought it off. Also, it neglects t-cell immunity which needs to be specifically tested for and was found in 30% of people tested for it in Stockholm. Also after the antibodies disappear, people will still have t-cell and b-cell memory immunity and can begin mass production of antibodies and t-cell killer cells to the attack/resist virus very quickly. I have written at least one long post on this subject, however, I can no longer find with the update to this website.

 

There have only been a total of 3 to 5 cases of reinfections in the world for all the infections in the world which are now estimated at 400-800 million, 10-20 times the number of confirmed global cases of 44 million . Prof John P A Ioannidis of Stanford actually estimates that the number infected globally at 780 million. He estimates that it is actually 78 million people(I believe) that have been infected in the United States. These topics were all discussed by Dr. Scott Atlas when he was interviewed by Freddie Sayers on October 20,2020. Dr Atlas is a public policy expert with medical training who is a professor at Stanford as well and was brought into the White House Coronavirus advisory team in July. Here is a link to the interview when he discusses the known data on covid 19 which gets limited airplay in the corporate msm. I strongly recommend watching this 40 minute interview as it is very informative:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpn3JxXqnp4

 

Referring back to Prof. Ioannidis, he was much maligned back in April for his study on the actual ifr of covid in the US, but he has been vindicated and his study with some small corrections had been peer reviewed and been accepted by the WHO as accurate. Interestingly enough here is his conclusion on the ifr:

 

"I included 61 studies (74 estimates) and eight preliminary national estimates. Seroprevalence estimates ranged from 0.02% to 53.40%. Infection fatality rates ranged from 0.00% to 1.63%, corrected values from 0.00% to 1.54%. Across 51 locations, the median COVID-19 infection fatality rate was 0.27% (corrected 0.23%???? the rate was 0.09% in locations with COVID-19 population mortality rates less than the global average (< 118 deaths/million), 0.20% in locations with 118–500 COVID-19 deaths/million people and 0.57% in locations with > 500 COVID-19 deaths/million people. In people < 70 years, infection fatality rates ranged from 0.00% to 0.31% with crude and corrected medians of 0.05%."

 

So this great killer disease by his study has an overall a median ifr of .23%. Here is the shocker for people under 70 the median ifr was .05%, meaning they had a 99.95% of not dying. Here is a link to the pdf. file for the WHO paper

 

https://www.who.int/bulletin/online_first/BLT.20.265892.pdf

 

Finally, here is an interview with Swedish doctor, Sebastian Rushworth , by Ivor Cummins in which Doctor Rushworth discusses the whole issue of immunity.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6IeN6sgJ3g

 

I hope you find them informative. Have a good night : )

 

Edited October 29, 2020 by vermin on arrival