From the moment the coronavirus epidemic hit the Valencian Community, the Regional Health Department took the decision not to provide a local breakdown of cases. This was in order to protect those who had been diagnosed from media or community attention and also to dampen any panic or hysteria in hotspot locations. Therefore, the only figures reported were per region and so statistics for the Province of Alicante were the only ones issued locally.
However, local authorities have been calling for more local information in order to allow them to make informed decisions in terms of allocating everything from key workers to supplies and local measures. Local communities have also been keen to see how their area is fairing.
And finally, after a month in lockdown there are local figures. These were issued for the first time last week and posted on social media by the municipalities, but not issued in a general press release to the media. The figures were issued on Thursday (16th April) and so although they are now out of date, they do give an insight into the local situation and luckily with the rate of cases remaining relatively low across the Vega Baja will not have changed too much. The figures given were:
• Torrevieja: 19 deceased 219 positives
• Orihuela Costa : 1 deceased 22 positives
• Orihuela 10 deceased 111 positives
• Guardamar del Segura: 3 deceased 23 positives
• Pilar de la Horadada: 2 deceased 12 positive
• Rojales: 3 deceased 7 positives
• San Miguel de Salinas: 5 positives
• Los Montesinos: 3 positives
Also on Thursday 16th April, the Hospital de la Vega Baja in San Bartolomé, Orihuela reported nine patients with coronavirus on assisted breathing in the Intensive Care Unit and 12 patients admitted to the ward. The Orihuela health department is one of the lowest incidences of the disease in the Valencian Community, according to data from the Department of Health. It has registered 10 deceased and 111 positives.
The total balance for Vega Baja is 451 positives and 42 deceased.
Once again The Generalitat does not offer recovery data by department, although the average figure for the whole of the Community exceeds 40 percent of the total number of active cases.
The Torrevieja Health Department registered three more positive cases on the day the figures were tracked. This gave them a reading of 340 positive cases and 37 deceased.
As in all countries, there continues to be considerable discrepancies in the statistics locally, regionally and nationally in Spain. This is blamed for the main part on the lack of testing and tracking, the different reporting processes and the way the figures are collated. Very few tests have been performed, and only cases with hospital admissions or moderate symptoms reported to the health authorities have been reported into the figures. Also, for example care-home deaths are not added into the figures as the majority are not hospital deaths.