The Spanish Health Ministry has begun a serological survey on the Covid 19 virus

The Spanish Health Ministry has begun a serological survey on the Covid 19 virus in Spain.
The plan was announced on 8th of this month, but was pushed back due to several delays.

The survey will test around 36,000 families, some 90,000 people, for the coronavirus.

A rapid test, which detects antibodies in a blood sample, will be carried out on each member of a household, and if it comes back negative, a more reliable PCR test will follow.

The preliminary results of the survey should be available on May 10, the aim is to analyse the gap between the official figures and the real spread of the virus to enable the government to better plan the relaxation of confinement measures.

After six weeks of strict lockdown, deescalation measures have begun and after children were allowed out for walks from Sunday, and as long as contagion levels keep dropping, the daily outings will be extended to the entire population next weekend.

Regional health authorities though must be able to double their number of critical care beds available in case of a new spike in cases.

Health minister Salvador Illa said provinces will be responsible for scaling back the lockdown, but the government will also listen to the regions.

The minister said that Prime Minister Sánchez will provide more details today after the Cabinet meeting.

Asked about reopening Spain’s borders, interior minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, said the government will establish common criteria with the EU “when domestic circumstances allow.”

The coronavirus outbreak has slowed significantly in many regions in Spain.

In Valencia, 62% of municipalities have not recorded a new infection for the past two weeks.

What’s more, 55% of all patients have recovered and only three in five cases remain active, a sharp drop since the beginning of April when the figure was nine in ten.

In response to the promising figures, the premier of the Valencia region, Ximo Puig, has said that the region will soon be ready for the relaxation of the confinement measures.

Murcia reported no new infections at the weekend, while the Canary Islands recorded no coronavirus deaths in a 24-hour period.

Written by BayRadio