Healthcare workers in Spain are the most exposed to the coronavirus in the world: almost 27 thousand were infected, 15% of the country’s total

Up to 26,672 health professionals have been infected by the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic, what it means 15.4% of the total confirmed cases to date, reported this Tuesday the Spanish Ministry of Health. At least 26 of them died, according to Spanish media.

According to the epidemiologist Fernando Simón, director of the Coordination Center for Health Alerts and Emergencies of the Ministry, the number of infected health personnel is due to their high degree of exposure, and although some have cost their lives, the truth is the severity of the disease is less than in the rest of the population.

There are several factors that could explain it, such as that its mean age is younger or they have access to supportive treatment earlier; in fact, the causes are being studied.

All in all, the epidemiologist has specified that despite the figure, which amounts to 26,672, this is from the beginning of the crisis and “A very large part” of them have already returned to work.

Spain to be the first country in the world in terms of infected toilets with respect to cases, according to Spanish media and unions, which denounce the lack of protection for workers.

At least 26 healthcare professionals have died, according to unofficial counts made by Spanish media.

The rate of new infections, however, continued its decreasing pattern, with a daily rise of 1.7 percent, the lowest figure recorded so far since the start of the pandemic.

The new daily cases were 3,045, bringing the total number of infections to 172,541.

On the other hand, others 2,777 people recovered from COVID-19 and add up to 67,504, 39.12 percent of the total infected, so that the number of infected in 24 hours is close to that of cured.

Although the daily deceased maintain the “oscillating downward” trend, today it rose 3.24 percent, it is still too high, according to Health.

These figures show that the trends are “in principle good”, Simon said that today he returned to his post after suffering from the disease.

Simon also highlighted a decrease in the increase of hospitalized and admitted to intensive care units (ICU), although he recognized the accumulation of patients in these services, with stays that can exceed two weeks, so “they continue to be in a situation of high stress”.

Nevertheless, the epidemiologist urged again to assess the data “with a little care”, because in addition to every Tuesday there is an increase in deaths due to the readjustment of data on Saturday and Sunday, this occasion is “somewhat peculiar”, because several holidays have been linked for last Easter.

Simon also warned that the known data is from notifications, that are behind the actual transmission of the disease. “We do not know if the transmission level is so consistent with the drop in cases, or could even be above”he concluded.

The Madrid region continues to be the most affected by the pandemic, with 48,048 registered cases and 6,568 deaths, followed by Catalonia, which has 35,197 cases and 3,666 deaths.

(With information from EFE)