The
number of cases of the coronavirus disease that originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan (COVID-19) in Spain amounted to 221 thousand as of May 7, 2020. Since Spain confirmed its first case, the authorities have confirmed 25.4 thousand deaths as a result of complications from coronavirus. As of the same date, the number of recoveries Spain registered was significantly higher than that of deaths, with over 128 thousand patients that were able to regain their health. The virus spread to all Spanish regions, with the Community of Madrid suffering the highest number of cases with over 64 thousand people.
The impact of the outbreak of this disease was such that the global stock markets were affected. The
Spanish IBEX-35 was no exception to that, decreasing by 2500 stock market points during the first days of March.
COVID-19: background information
COVID-19 is a novel coronavirus that had not previously been identified in humans. The first case was detected in the Hubei province of China at the end of December 2019. Thousands of new cases are being reported each day, and because the illness has only recently been detected, it is not known exactly how the virus is spreading from person to person. However, the outbreak of the SARS coronavirus, which began in 2002, is thought to have spread via cough and sneeze droplets.