Going to a funeral, 60 people infected with Covid-19 at once
About 60 people tested positive for Covid-19 after attending a funeral in the Basque city of Vitoria-Gasteiz last month.
The group includes 39 people living in the neighboring La Rioja region, mainly in the cities of Haro and Casalarreina. Around 25 other cases have been reported in the Basque region, local authorities confirmed at a press conference on March 7.
"The link between the funeral and the Covid-19 cases is being investigated," a Basque health official told Spain's El Pais newspaper.
Regional health authorities and representatives of the La Rioja government said the situation required extraordinary and drastic measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
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Medical staff prepare to check people at a quarantine site in Adeje, Tenerife, Spain on February 28. Photo: Reuters. |
There are currently only six cases in hospital, but officials say police will step up home quarantine checks in the city of Haro. The local health department says police will work with civil defense forces to ensure people strictly follow home quarantine rules.
"According to the quarantine rules, we need to take special measures to prevent the spread of the disease among citizens who do not follow the advice of the health authorities. We have spoken to the Ministry of Health about the situation in Haro and agreed on the measures being taken and are prepared for any future scenario," said regional health authority head Sara Alba.
Fernando Simón, head of Spain's health emergencies agency, called the outbreak in La Rioja a "worrying situation." "We're talking about quarantining entire neighborhoods. With the current measures, we can't know where the sick people are," Simón said.
On March 7, Spain also announced that an inmate at a prison in Aranjuez, 50km south of Madrid, tested positive for Covid-19. The country currently has more than 670 cases of Covid-19, of which 17 have died and more than 30 have recovered.