After more than six weeks of lockdown, Spain on Tuesday reported 301 more coronavirus deaths and 1,308 new infections, both down from Monday and far below the peak seen in early April.
TESTING IS LIMITED ACROSS THE COUNTRY
On Monday, after weeks of delay, the Health Ministry announced it had begun a study of coronavirus in general population. Results of this study may help guide the government on the de-escalation of social distancing measures.
Using blood tests that check for antibodies, health officials hope to get a full picture of how many people may have contracted the virus without having been tested.Generally in Spain, testing has been limited to people with severe infections or essential workers.
This study will test at least 60,000 randomly selected people across the country to determine how many have the antibodies that may make them immune to the disease. The Health Ministry said these rapid blood tests are more than 80 percent accurate according to preliminary studies.