By Roy Mabasa
A total of 82 Filipinos have been infected with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Spain, of which 32 have fully recovered and six died, the Philippine Embassy in Madrid said on Monday.
At the Laging Handa briefing, Consul General Adrian Elmer Cruz said while the situation in Spain has significantly improved since April, he encouraged the members of the Filipino community to report to the embassy or the nearest consulate in their area if there are other Filipino nationals afflicted with the disease.
“The situation here has now improved because of the Spanish government’s efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic. In the last 24 hours, only one death was reported,” Cruz said, noting that the number of cases has significantly dropped as compared to the previous months when Spain became the epicenter of the disease in Europe after Italy.
As of June 8, 2020, Spain has a total of 288,630 confirmed coronavirus cases with 27,136 fatalities, according to the online COVID-19 monitoring platform, Worldometer.
Cruz said the Spanish Ministry of Health listed around 150,000 individuals who have recovered so far.
He said Spain is currently under a state of alarm until June 21, 2020, which means mobility varies by region. In Madrid, people have the flexibility of movement or they can go around only within the region.
On the operations of the Philippine Embassy and all its consulates throughout Spain, Cruz said they are open to serve the needs of the Filipinos by appointment basis through their website or Facebook page.
He said this is in line with the health protocols being implemented by the Spanish government to ensure that social distancing is observed for the safety of both the clients and the employees of the embassy and consulates.
Cruz said the embassy has also assisted in the repatriation of 925 stranded or distressed Filipinos, mostly seafarers, and provided them with food packs.
The US$200 Akap cash assistance from the Department of Labor and Employment was also released to 225 Filipinos through the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) at the embassy.
For the Philippine Independence Day celebration this week, Cruz said the embassy and its consulates are arranging month-long activities, mostly online, that seek the participation of the more than 44,000 Filipinos all over Spain.