Coronavirus: Spain records lowest daily death toll as lockdown eases

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Kilian, 6, wears a protective face mask as he jumps from a bench, after restrictions were partially lifted for children, during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Igualada, Spain, on 26 April 2020 — Image caption

Spanish children under the age of 14 are now allowed outside one hour per day

Spain, which has been one of the countries worst hit in the coronavirus pandemic, has reported its lowest daily death toll in more than a month.

Its health ministry said earlier that 288 more people had died of the virus, the lowest number since 20 March.

The figure is a steep drop from the 378 deaths recorded on Saturday.

On Sunday, children under the age of 14 were allowed to leave their homes for the first time in six weeks. They are now allowed outside for one hour a day.

The health ministry said the total number of fatalities now stood at 23,190.

Fernando Simon, director of the Spanish Health Alert and Emergency Co-ordination Centre, said: “For the first time in a long time, we are below 300.

“Although it may be hard to give these statistics, it’s a figure which indicates a clear, positive direction in the evolution of the epidemic.”

What has changed for Spanish children?

The new lockdown conditions allow Spain’s 6.3 million under-14s to leave their homes each day for a total of one hour between 09:00 and 21:00, but without going further than a kilometre (0.6 mile).

Those over 13 are allowed to carry out errands for their parents, as has been the case throughout the lockdown.

However, parents tend to prefer not to send their children out, especially to enclosed places such as supermarkets, where there is more risk of contagion.

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EPA

Image caption

Playgrounds are still out of bounds for children

Bicycles, skates and skateboards are allowed, but public parks remain off-limits. The lockdown’s other conditions remain in place for the moment and schools remain closed; the government is considering loosening the lockdown further in the second half of May.

Psychologists have welcomed the lifting of restrictions for smaller children, saying that even one hour outside each day can provide an important boost to their state of mind.

“The change of routine, being outside and being in the sunlight – all of that is extremely important,” says Laura Piñeiro, a psychologist and the director in Madrid of the charity Asociación Bienestar Desarollo.

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