THE MIRACLE OF MADRID. That is the alternative way to generalized closedown

14 November 20204 years ago babelfish

In Europe there is a situation that goes against the normal tendency of contagions and closures, Madrid.

The Retiro and other parks in Madrid are full of athletes and recreational strollers these days. If you prefer to enjoy the mild autumn sun while sitting with a beer or the famous Horchata tiger almond milk drink, you often have to look for a terrace table that is free for a long time. While in many other cities in Spain and Europe, in addition to restaurants, cultural and leisure facilities are sometimes completely closed, here you can sit in the bars and restaurants of the Spanish capital until midnight. The surprising thing: Despite the relatively exuberant hustle and bustle, the number of infections and other important markers in the former coronal epicenter have been decreasing rapidly for weeks.

At the end of September, when the crown situation was still relatively relaxed elsewhere, the Madrid region, with 813 infections per 100,000 inhabitants within 14 days, still had by far the worst values in Western Europe. This so-called 14-day incidence was only 328 years. The number of cases per 100,000 population in seven days fell Wednesday through Thursday from 161 to 152.

In Spain, of the total of the 17 so-called autonomous communities, only the island regions (Canary and Balearic Islands), Galicia and Valencia have better values. Such a rapid improvement in the situation as in Madrid was not recorded anywhere. Even in Germany there were significantly worse 7-day values, including Berlin (190.8), Bavaria (180.7) and Bremen (173.8). The German average is 140.

The newspaper " El Mundo " and other Spanish media are now talking about the "Milagro" of Madrid, the "miracle of Madrid", due to the reversal of the trend. Experts are perplexed and don't dare to provide concrete explanations. What is Madrid doing well? "This is the million dollar question," epidemiologist José Jonay Ojeda tells El Mundo, demonstrating how little they really understand about the spread of the virus. It is too early to draw conclusions. Ojeda agrees with many colleagues, however, that there may be one main reason for the success: the antigen test.

The municipality of Madrid bought five million of these tests at the end of September. Extensive and preventive tests were launched in problem areas. “This was the right decision. This makes diagnosing contagious cases easier, cheaper, and faster. So infected people can be isolated earlier, ”explains Miguel Ángel Royo, spokesman for the Spanish Association of Epidemiologists. Antigen tests are less sensitive than PCR tests. "But very few positive cases go unnoticed," says Ojeda.

Other Spanish regions, which, despite stricter restrictions on the virus, simply cannot dominate it, look to Madrid with a mixture of envy and skepticism. There are doubts, especially in Catalonia with the tourist metropolis of Barcelona, which has always had a great rivalry with Madrid in all sectors (from football to business). “We question the optimism in Madrid. It is clear that there is an information blackout there, ”said regional health minister Marc Ramentol.

Due to the low number of restaurants, bars, cinemas and theaters in Catalonia will remain closed until 23 November. The instruction, which took effect October 16, was extended by ten days on Friday. The delimitation of the region, the delimitation of all communities on weekends and the night curfew are also maintained. Similar strict restrictions also apply in other regions of Spain.

Is Ramentol's claim correct? Are the numbers embellished by Madrid's conservative regional government? Some experts do not rule out that there may be problems and delays in registering cases here and there, not only in Madrid. But they point out that the situation in hospitals, for example, cannot be ignored. And even there it looks always better. “The fewer hospitalizations for Covid-19 patients are a reality,” says Saúl Ares, head of biotechnology in the Supreme Council for Scientific Research (CSIC). Indeed: at the beginning of October the number of hospitalizations in Madrid was well over 2,500 per day, only 238 were reported on Thursday (out of 316 dismissals).

What makes Madrid different from other regions?

What makes Madrid different from other regions? The main difference: the entire region or entire cities and municipalities is not delimited, but only the smaller districts that have high numbers. You can only enter or leave these areas with good reason. However, the curfew will soon be brought forward to 22:00, the parks and playgrounds will be closed but on Friday 10 of the 32 affected areas were again "unlocked" because the number of infections halved in 14 days.

Even the media and experts are convinced that the people of Madrid have become more cautious due to the great shock. "Yes, it's true. Even in our family, more attempts are made to almost always wear a mask and keep distance. But there must also be joy ”, retiree Carlos (75) and his wife Lurdes (77) say in unison over a glass of red wine on the terrace of the traditional“ Gijón ”café.

The “miracle” satisfies all the people of Madrid, but one woman in particular: Isabel Díaz Ayuso. The regional president had been harshly criticized for months by the central government, the media and colleagues from other regions for her crown policy. She was accused of helplessness and inaction. For many media he was already "politically dead". Now the journalist is suddenly seen as the new star and the bringer of hope for the Conservative People's Party (PP).

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The article THE MIRACLE OF MADRID. That is, the alternative way to generalized closedown comes from ScenariEconomici.it .

This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/il-miracolo-di-madrid-ovvero-la-via-alternativa-al-closedown-generalizzato/ on Sat, 14 Nov 2020 09:41:55 +0000.