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At the beginning of October, the Spanish government went back in time. On 9 October he declared a state of emergency for Madrid in order to impose the closure of the capital. Previously there have been blockages in the individual districts.
Just a month later, the failing capital shows a completely different picture: the Retiro and other parks in Madrid are filled with recreational athletes and walkers these days. If you’d rather enjoy the mild autumn sun while sitting with a beer or the famous Horchata tiger nut milk drink, you often have to search longer for a free terrace table.
While in many other cities in Spain and Europe, in addition to restaurants, cultural and leisure facilities are sometimes completely closed, 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 epicenter of the corona have declined, in some cases rapidly, for weeks.
Nowhere is the situation improving as rapidly as in Madrid
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.
What’s special about it: in Spain, out of a total of 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. And several German federal states, according to the Robert Koch Institute, have also had significantly worse 7-day values recently, including Berlin (190.8), Bavaria (180.7) and Bremen (173.8). For the whole of Germany this incidence was 140.4.
The newspaper “El Mundo” and other Spanish media are now talking about the “Milagro” of Madrid, the “Miracle of Madrid”, due to the long-lasting trend. Experts are perplexed and don’t dare to give concrete explanations.
Is success due to antigen tests?
What is Madrid doing well? “This is the million dollar question,” epidemiologist José Jonay Ojeda tells El Mundo. 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.
Madrid bought five million of these tests at the end of September. Offensive tests were launched in problem areas. “It was the right decision. This makes it easier, cheaper, and faster to diagnose contagious cases. So you can isolate infected people first, “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 undetected, “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 of Madrid. It is clear that there is an information blackout there, ”said regional health minister Marc Ramentol.
“Low numbers are a reality”
Due to the ever-scarce number, all restaurants, bars, cinemas and theaters in Catalonia will be 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.
But is Ramentol’s accusation correct? Are the numbers embellished by Madrid’s conservative regional government? Some experts do not rule out the possibility that there may be problems and delays in registering cases here and there, not just 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). On the contrary: at the beginning of October the number of hospitalizations in Madrid was well over 2500 per day, only 238 were reported on Thursday (out of 316 dismissals).
The regional president is suddenly a heroine
What makes Madrid different from other regions? The main difference: it does not delimit the entire region or entire cities and municipalities and only the smaller neighborhoods that have high numbers. You can only enter or leave these areas with good reason. The curfew will be brought forward to 22:00, the parks and play areas will be closed. Apparently this is enough: 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, that’s right. Even in our family, people almost always try to wear a mask and keep their distance. But there must also be joy”, retire 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” delights all the people of Madrid, but above all a woman: Isabel Díaz Ayuso. The regional president had been harshly criticized for months by the central government, the media and colleagues in other regions for her crown policy. She was accused of helplessness and inaction. For many media outlets, she was already “politically dead”. Now the journalist is suddenly seen as a new star and a bringer of hope for the Conservative People’s Party (PP).
You have “eggs, better ovaries”, wrote the columnist Emilia Landeluca in “El Mundo”. And on Thursday night, TV presenter Pablo Motos shouted in front of an audience of millions: “It’s good that we have them in Madrid!” (SDA / kin)
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