Over 20,000 people died of COVID-19 in Spanish care homes during first wave, according to government report

The Spanish government estimates that 20,268 COVID-19 related deaths took place at social services facilities for the elderly and for the disabled, during the first wave of the pandemic between March and June.

According to Spanish outlet El Pais, 10,364 of the victims underwent a preliminary blood test, while 9904 had symptoms compatible with COVID-19; concluding that between 47 to 50 percent of the deaths during the first wave of the pandemic took place in social services residences.

The death estimate, calculated by the Office of the State Secretary of Social Rights, with data provided by the regional authorities, provides an insight into the mismanagement of the pandemic by the Spanish government, and how their response proved to be massively consequential.

While the Spanish government imposed one of the world’s strictest lockdowns, it was reported that senior citizens and the disabled were left “in a state of complete abandonment” during the first wave of the pandemic; which eventually led to these social services residences becoming a focal point of the country’s outbreak.