The end-of-year holiday season is always a difficult time for people left isolated as families and friends gather to celebrate.
But this was the year of the coronavirus and loneliness has been a feature of life for months.
One report published in the summer found nearly three times as many people reported feelings of loneliness compared to 2019.
Experts across Europe say the necessary focus on maintaining our physical health has come at the expense of mental health.
“We always talk about the transmission of the virus, but loneliness is also a public health problem,” Pedro Gullón, an epidemiologist, told the Spanish news website el Diaro.
The incidence rate of the coronavirus in Spain has risen for the third day in a row. According to the Health Ministry report, released Tuesday evening, the 14-day cumulative number of coronavirus cases per 100,000 now stands at 198.77, up from 193.6 on Monday (which covers figures from Saturday and Sunday) and 189 on Friday. Up until Friday, the coronavirus incidence rate had been on a downward trend for five consecutive weeks. According to the latest Health Ministry report, 10,328 new coronavirus cases were detected on Tuesday and added 388 Covid-19-related deaths to the official toll.
It is still too soon to consider whether these figures indicate an upward trend, according to epidemiologist Pedro Gullón, who explained that delays in notifications due to recent public holidays â data is often released later due to staff shortages on holidays and weekends â may be responsible for the rise in cases. It is also too soon to attribute the rise to last weekâs long week
The number of new coronavirus cases in Spain continues to fall. The start of this ongoing descent was first recorded a month ago, on November 9. According to the Spanish Health Ministryâs latest report, released on Wednesday evening, the 14-day cumulative number of cases per 100,000 inhabitants is now below 300 in nearly every Spanish region and territory. Only the Basque Country (309) and Asturias (304) are above this level. The average incidence rate across Spain now stands at 193.26, down from a peak of 529.43 a month ago â a fall of 63.5%.
The Health Ministry report published on Wednesday also includes figures from Tuesday, when no data was released as it was a public holiday in many regions. According to the report, 9,836 new coronavirus cases were recorded in the two days, bringing the total number of infections since the beginning of the pandemic to 1,712,101. These figures, however, should be viewed with caution, given that there is often underreporting over weeken