The COVID-19 pandemic in Asturias was part of the Spanish outbreak of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.
As of 17 February 2021, there were 41,983 cases with 1,683 deaths in Asturias according to authorities.
The peak of the pandemic's first wave arrived on 16 April, with 1,405 active cases, and on 27 June, Asturias was the first Spanish autonomous community to be declared COVID-free region, with only 45 active cases and after accumulating 14 days without any new positive cases reported. However, on 7 July and 25 days after, a positive case was detected in Oviedo.
Timeline
2020
February and March
On 24 February, a first suspected case was detected after a 25-year-old woman that came from Venice entered the San Agustín University Hospital, Avilés, and was later evacuated to the Central University Hospital of Asturias (HUCA) in Oviedo. However, she was later diagnosed with mycoplasma.
The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Asturias was found on 29 February 2020, when Chilean writer Luis Sepúlveda went to a private healthcare center in Gijón and tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 following a trip to Portugal. He died due to the disease on 16 April, 48 days after being tested positive.
The second and third confirmed cases of the disease in the region were found on 3 March. A 30-year old from Llanes and an 85-year-old woman.
The fourth case was reported on 4 March and in the following days, three new cases related to the Torrejón de Ardoz cluster were reported.
On 10 March, a positive case was detected in Grado, referring to a coach of one of the youth teams of football club CD Mosconia who was infected at Fundación Masaveu School in Oviedo. On this day, the Principality of Asturias ordered the closure of the four schools in Oviedo and another in Grado with positive cases detected. One day later, the region registered its first death due to coronavirus: a connected with the outbreak at Fundación Masaveu.
On 12 March, the Government of the Principality of Asturias extended the cancellation of classes at all educational levels in the region. Two days later, Asturias closed all shops except those selling food and basic necessities, and this measure was extended in all Spain on 14 March, after the imposition of a 14-day national lockdown by the Spanish government, banning all trips that are not force majeure and announcing it may intervene with companies to guarantee supplies.
On 15 March it was reported that hospitals Álvarez-Buylla in Mieres and San Agustín in Avilés will support HUCA to allow positive cases, while Cabueñes in Gijón and Valle del Nalón in Langreo will house people affected by other diseases. However, finally all Asturian hospitals hosted positives cases.
On 23 March, a 56-year-old woman who had recovered from the virus was the first positive case to leave the intensive care unit.
On 24 March, a baby was born in the HUCA from a mother with the disease. He was not infected.
On 26 March, the installation of a field hospital in the central pavilion of the Asturias International Trade Fair was announced, lightening the load of the Cabueñes Hospital in Gijón. The municipality of Carreño sent 100 mattresses as help.
On 27 March, Asturias passed the 1,000 positive cases, with 4,125 more people with possible symptoms being tracked via the telephone. On this day, the Ministry of Health announced massive testings in Asturian nursing homes, the main cluster of the disease in Asturias.
On 28 March, President Adrián Barbón suggested to the central government that the quarantine should be toughened. His call was answered, as all non-essential activities were thenceforth ceased until 9 April. However, the Asturian government was negotiating with Madrid about the continuation of the region's heavy industry, hoping to avoid its bankruptcy. In addition, several of the town councils of Asturias, such as Valdés or Cudillero, approved their own restrictions by forbidding tourism in the whole municipality with the aim of controlling the disease.
On 29 March, the second positive case left the Intensive Care Unit of the HUCA. One day later, in Grado, a 95-year-old man became the first person to recover at a nursing home.
April
On 1 April, the University of Oviedo offered the nursing students in the final year to finish their degree prematurely so they could work as soon as possible against the coronavirus.
On 3 April, a nursing home in Mallecina, Salas, was totally evacuated after two deaths and nearly all the residents testing positive. They were moved to the Referral Center for People with Neurological Disabilities in Barros, Langreo, and to the HUCA. It was also reported that about 5,500 people are being tracked via the telephone without being previously tested.
On 4 April, it was reported that Asturias will increase the daily tests performed to 3,000, by using the Animal Health Laboratory of Gijón and the Inter-Professional Dairy Laboratory of Llanera. On the same day, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced the extension of the state of alarm, under the initial conditions, until 26 April, with the possibility to extend it for additional weeks, but relaxing some conditions. However, industrial activities and construction could resume their activities after 9 April.
7 April was the first day that the active cases decreased since the start of the pandemic in the region. Also on this day, Asturias surpassed 100 deaths and achieved a new record of recoveries with 50. Two days later, it was confirmed that in the nursing home of Grado, the main cluster of Asturias, 43 people recovered from the disease.
On 8 April, José Manuel Fernández Tamargo, from Yernes y Tameza, became the first mayor of Asturias to be tested positive.
The installation of the field hospital at the central pavilion of the Asturias International Trade Fair, in Gijón, was finished on 10 April. It has 114 beds for mild patients. President Adrián Barbón highlighted this was prepared in advance, as in that moment the hospitals were 50% occupied.
On 13 April, coinciding with the return of non-essential workers, the security forces distributed face masks for public transport users in the main stations of the region. The next day, the Principality of Asturias started mass testing at nursing homes, two weeks after announcing it. On this day, nursing homes accumulated 460 of the 2,059 cases confirmed in the region, being 52 of them, 24 private and 13 subsidized, taken over by the regional government.
On 17 April, regional President Adrián Barbón announced that the region would have its own confinement exit plan, despite an Autonomous Community not having the right to decide on its own when to execute it. and is considering progressively letting children out of their homes. Finally, the Government of Spain approved this request and it would come into effect on 27 April. Barbón also affirmed that Asturias is in a good position to begin to ease the lockdown, and stated that that didn't necessarily have to be the same as in other region.
On 20 April, the Epidemiological Surveillance Service of Asturias estimated that the number of people that had had the disease in Asturias was 19,100.
On 22 April, the Spanish Ministry of Health announced that 2,400 Asturians chosen randomly would take part in an investigation to measure the immunity to the coronavirus.
On 28 April, the Spanish Government announced the progressive end of the lockdown with the phase zero starting on 4 May. Asturias could re-open restaurants and bars on 11 May, but with a lower capacity. On the next day, the Directorate General for Public Health reported that all the deceased people had underlying medical conditions.
The month of April finished with no deaths reported by the Ministry of Health, for the first time since 18 March. However, the Ministry of Social Rights and Welfare reported in this day two new deaths at nursing homes. In addition, no new positives cases at these places were reported for the first time since the start of the pandemic.
May
As in the rest of Spain, on 2 May, Asturias started the nationwide plan for easing the lockdown restrictions. In Phase 0, people were allowed to go out of their homes for short walks and individual sports for a limited time. Since many people went out in the first day, President Barbón showed concern on viewing some photographies of the main cities of the region and warned about a possible new outbreak.
On 4 May, as part of Phase 0, small business, except those in the hospitality industry, resumed activity under limited conditions. Two days later, Asturias made a request to the central government to start Phase 1 on 11 May. Along with this, the Government requested the possibility for 13 municipalities to start Phase 2: namely those in the Oscos Valley (San Martín, Santa Eulalia and Villanueva), the Valle del Oso (Proaza, Quirós, Santo Adriano and Teverga) and the municipalities of Boal, Grandas de Salime, Illano, Pesoz, San Tirso de Abres and Taramundi. In the end, on 8 May, the Spanish Ministry of Health confirmed that the whole region is able to start Phase 1, thereby rejecting the previous proposal.
On 11 May, Phase 1 started and Asturian bars and restaurants re-opened terraces at half-capacity, with complaints and doubts about the usefulness of the new working conditions. On the first day, 80% of Gijón's commerce was opened, while in Oviedo and Avilés only 65% of small businesses returned to work. In addition, since that date, suspected cases are allowed to be tested by health officials.
On 13 May, a large-scale serologic study in Spain suggested that only 1.8% of Asturians (about 18,400 people) had developed antibodies for COVID-19. This was also the first date without any positive cases by PCR-test. Following requests from the Asturian government, the Spanish Ministry of Health announced on 15 May that hunting and fishing were allowed during phase 1.
On 17 May, the Spanish Government announced that in towns with less than 10,000 inhabitants the time restrictions for sports and walking would disappear, a measure that was already applied in towns with less than 5,000 inhabitants. In addition, Barbón requested all time and movement restrictions for all the region to be scrapped, as he qualified them, at that moment, as nonsense.
On May 18, the Spanish government announced that an agreement had been reached with the autonomous communities to make the use of face masks compulsory in closed places and on the street if safety distance could not be maintained. Until that day, it was only compulsory to wear one on public transport. That same day, protests against central government's management of the coronavirus crisis took place in the main Asturian cities. A hundred citizens gathered in Gijón, a demonstration attended by the president of Vox in Asturias, Rodolfo Espina and the deputy on the General Junta, Sara Álvarez Rouco. There were also concentrations in Oviedo and in Avilés.
On 19 May, the Asturian government requested to start Phase 2. That same day, the Spanish government changed the criteria for information regarding positive cases and deaths, with only the number of PCR-confirmed cases given, thereby increasing the number of recoveries by 250 and reducing the number of deaths by 14.
On 22 May, the Spanish government confirmed that Asturias would pass to Phase 2 on 25 May. The next day, hundreds of cars gathered in Oviedo, as well as in several provincial capitals of Spain, called by Vox to protest against the Pedro Sánchez government in Spain.
On 27 May, as in the rest of Spain, Asturias started the first of ten days of official mourning and rejected on the next day to start the phase 3 earlier, despite the good statistics of the disease in the region. In addition, Pablo Fernández, Asturian Minister of Health, requested to maintain the restrictions of mobility between provinces during the phase 2.
A new outbreak of 19 positive cases was detected on 30 May in a nursing home of Gijón (15 residents and 4 workers). All cases were moved to the Center of Neurological Disabled People in Barros, Langreo, set up to host COVID-19 cases.
On 31 May, Pedro Sánchez, Spanish Prime Minister, announced that during Phase 3, the autonomous communities would be in charge of the de-escalation process. He also announced that the state of alarm would end on 21 June.
June
On 1 June another outbreak was detected, this time in a nursing home in Oviedo, infecting four people. That same day, the death of one patient affected by the Gijón outbreak in May was announced.