According to the data provided on Tuesday by the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, among the people in the country's nursing homes, the cases of coronavirus positive are 671, almost 200 more than two days ago. The spread of the virus in a short period of time shows that they have become nursing homes, especially in Bizkaia, but also in other territories of the Basque Country, some of the most dangerous outbreaks of Covid-19.

The residential network in Bizkaia comprises 155 residences, of which 39 positive cases have appeared. Of the older people infected, 147 have been hospitalized.

The disease affects not only the elderly, but also the professionals who care for them: 205 workers have already tested positive, 13 more than the data of the Provincial Council of Bizkaia. There are 299 other isolated workers, with symptoms but no evidence.

And there are already 143 people who have died in the residences of the elderly in Bizkaia for coronavirus, according to data provided by Osakidetza last week – the Provincial Council of Bizkaia is appearing rather fleeting when it comes to providing this data, but even if a more current figure has not been given, the figure is expected to be higher. This is 64 per cent of the deaths in the country and the first week of April was particularly hard, as more than 100 deaths were recorded.

Navarre: half of the deaths in nursing homes

The data of Bizkaia are comparable to those given by Navarra: 127 people have died in nursing homes, accounting for 51% of official COVID-19 deaths across the country. But in addition, another 156 people have died in residences with symptoms similar to coronavirus, although they have not been tested, so it is not known exactly whether they have died from coronavirus.

These are data provided by the Government of Navarra. The Social Rights Counselor of this institution, Carmen Maeztu, has stated that in nursing homes "the most difficult situations" are being experienced in the last week, since 76% of the 1,197 PCR tests carried out have been positive. The foral government hopes that with the rapid tests that will reach the end of this week, it will be known whether all residents are infected or not.

In Gipuzkoa, seven out of ten deaths; in Álava, four.

As we published this Monday, the situation in nursing homes is also tragic in Gipuzkoa. Seven out of ten coronavirus deaths in the country were residents of residences, 91 people.

According to official data, the Alavese residences seem to offer the lowest proportion, although also in this country, where the coronavirus has severely punished, about 40% of the deaths are residents of nursing homes for the elderly.

Despite these official data, the institutions of each country of Hego Euskal Herria are occurring at a different rate and since the cases of deaths without positive tests have not been counted, at the moment they only serve to make an approximation to what is happening in the residences. Where coronavirus screening is possible for all residents, it will be possible to check whether the situation in nursing homes is as critical as the above data suggests.