TIMELINE-How the coronavirus spread in Spain


Reuters | Madrid | Updated: 02-04-2020 11:32 IST | Created: 02-04-2020 11:32 IST
TIMELINE-How the coronavirus spread in Spain
  • Country:
  • Spain

Spain has the world's second-highest tally of deaths from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. * Jan. 31: First confirmed coronavirus case in Spain, detected in a German tourist in the Canary Islands, who has been in touch with people who had travelled to China.

* Feb. 6: Health ministry sets official test protocol: people with breathing difficulties and fever who travelled to China's Hubei province over the past 15 days. * Feb. 19: 2,500 Valencia fans travel to Milan, in Italy's Lombardy region, to watch Atalanta-Valencia soccer match. Bergamo's mayor, where Atalanta is based, later called the match "a biological bomb."

* Feb. 25: Spain starts reporting cases linked to Lombardy. Around 700 guests at a Tenerife hotel isolated after an Italian tourist tests positive. Madrid reports its first case. * Feb. 26: Spain advises its citizens not to travel to China, Japan, South Korea, Iran, Singapore and northern Italy.

* Feb. 27: Criteria for testing patients loosened to include those with obvious symptoms and a history of travel to hot-spots such as northern Italy. * March 3: Spain reports its first coronavirus death, a man who died in Valencia on Feb. 13 and had travelled to Nepal.

* March 5: Spanish authorities say soccer matches must be played behind closed doors when one of the teams comes from a "hot coronavirus zone." * March 7 and 8: Far-right Vox party annual rally in Madrid, women's rights rallies and many sports events throughout the country. On March 8, Spain reports 589 coronavirus cases and 17 dead.

* March 9: School shutdowns declared in some areas. Health authorities confirm for the first time that there have been locally transmitted cases. * March 10: Spain bans direct flights from Italy and gatherings of more than 1,000 people at closed venues in hardest-hit hit areas.

* March 12: Schools are ordered to close nationwide and Igualada, in the Catalonia region, is the first municipality to be placed on lockdown. There are now just over 3,000 cases and 84 dead. * March 14: Spain declares a 15-day state of emergency, banning any movement except to buy food, medicine and to work. The Health Ministry centralizes all decisions. Bars, restaurants and shops selling non-essential items shut.

* March 25: Spain's death toll of 3,434 overshoots China's. The total figure is still far less than Italy, but growth speeds up. * March 26: Spain extends state of emergency until Apr. 12.

* March 28: Spain tightens lockdown and says all non-essential workers must stay at home for two weeks. (Compiled by Emma Pinedo, Ingrid Melander, Paola Luelmo, Joan Faus)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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