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HEALTH

Hope in Spain as daily coronavirus death toll lowest for a month

Spain's daily coronavirus death toll dropped to 288 on Sunday, the lowest since March 20, as the country eased its lockdown to allow children outside for the first time in six weeks.

Published: 26 April 2020 12:12 CEST
Hope in Spain as daily coronavirus death toll lowest for a month
Photo: PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU / AFP

The health ministry said the figure dropped from 378 on Saturday and brought Spain's total toll to 23,190, the third highest number of deaths after the United States and Italy.

The news came as the country took the first steps to ease one of the world's toughest lockdowns.

Why has Spain been hit so hard by the coronavirus pandemic?

Spain issued a stringent stay-at-home order on March 14, confining the country's nearly 47 million population to their homes in a bid to slow the spread of the epidemic.

Unlike other countries in Europe and the rest of the world, Spain's children have not been able to go out, with only adults allowed to leave the house to buy food, medicine, briefly walk the dog or because of a medical emergency.

However from Sunday, under-14s can go out once a day, for one hour between 9:00 am (0700 GMT) and 9:00 pm, accompanied by one parent — and no further than one kilometre from their home.

All Spaniards will be allowed out for exercise and to take walks from next weekend, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Saturday.

The government will on Tuesday unveil its broader lockdown exit plan that will likely be put into action in the second half of May, he added.

The ministry of health said that 98,731 people have now recovered from the deadly virus. Health officials have said Spain's COVID-19 epidemic peaked on April 2, when it recorded 950 deaths over 24 hours.

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HEALTH

When can doctors in Denmark refuse to continue treating patients?

General Practitioners in Denmark have the right to break off a patient-doctor relationship in specific circumstances.

Published: 1 August 2024 16:35 CEST
When can doctors in Denmark refuse to continue treating patients?

Although doctors in Denmark have the right to decide not to continue treating a patient – requiring them to find a new GP – the circumstances in which this can happen are limited, and must be approved by health authorities.

The frequency in which the circumstances arise is also low. A doctor decided to no longer receive a patient on 375 occasions in 2016, according to the medical professionals’ journal Ugeskrift for Læger. The following year, newspaper Jyllands-Posten reported the figure at 458.

There are two main categories of circumstances in which a doctor can choose to take this step. The first is in instances of violent or threatening behaviour from the patient towards the doctor. 

The second (and most common) is when the doctor considers the relationship to have deteriorated to the extent that confidence has broken down, according to Ugeskrift for Læger.

It should be noted that patients are not bound by any restrictions in this regard, and can decide to change their GP without having to give any justification.

A patient also has the right to appeal against a doctor’s decision to ask them to find a new GP. This is done by appealing to the local health authority, called a Region in the Danish health system.

In such cases, a board at the regional health authority will assess the claim and if it finds in favour of the patient may order the doctor to attempt to repair the relationship.

Doctors cannot end a relationship with a patient purely because a patient has made a complaint about them to health authorities. This is because patients should have the option of making complaints without fear of consequences for their future treatment. 

However, if this is accompanied by the conclusion on the doctor’s part that there is no longer confidence in them on the part of the patient, they can remove the patient from their list.

The right to no longer see patients in the circumstances detailed above is provided by doctors’ collective bargaining agreements, the working conditions agreed on between trade unions and employer confederations under the Danish labour market system.

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