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Spain Overtakes Britain for Most COVID-19 Cases in Europe

VOA News

   More than 20 millioncases ofCOVID-19have been confirmedworldwideas
   ofMonday night,andSpain has overtakenBritainfor the highestnumberof
   cases in WesternEurope.

   Partly to blame, some Spanish health experts say, is thatthe government
   doesn't have enough qualified contracttracers.

   "Some regions have not understood that this was the key in the months
   after the lockdown and in the long term," saidIldefonso Hernandez
   Aguado, a public health professor at Alicante's Miguel Hernandez
   University.

   He also blamed Spanish society for its eagerness to celebrate holidays
   and other events with large gatherings, saying, "This is a country that
   doesn't understand holding a celebration or taking a holiday if you're
   not going to share them."

   The government defended its response.

   "Appropriate measures are being taken to control the pandemic in
   coordination" with the regions, the government said in a statement,
   after experts questioned its policies. "The data shows that we are
   being very active in tracking and detecting the virus."

   Accordingto Johns Hopkins University,Spainhasnearly 323,000 COVID-19
   cases whileBritainhasrecorded313,000.More than28,000 people have died
   from the disease in Spainandmore than 46,000 have died in Britain.

   Spain,oneof the world's hot spots early in the pandemic before imposing
   strict lockdowns and other measures, has seen a surge in the numberof
   cases sincelifting most measuresinstituted to contain the spread ofthe
   coronavirus, which causes COIVD-19.From anaverage daily infections
   tally of 132 cases in June, Spain has countedsome1,500per dayin the
   first 10 days of August.

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