Spain Sets Infection Record As Omicron Variant Spreads, Queues For Free COVID-19 Tests Spread In Madrid

JAKARTA - Demand for free COVID-19 test kits provided by the Madrid local government far exceeded supply on Tuesday, with long lines forming outside pharmacies as nationwide infections continued to rise, amid the rapid expansion of Omicron variants.

Spain's coronavirus infection rate hit a new record, rising to 1.360 cases per 100.000 people, measured over the previous 14 days, from 1.206 cases reported on Monday, a fivefold increase since early December, according to health ministry data.

Some 250 new deaths in the past seven days were reported by Spanish authorities on Tuesday, bringing the total from COVID-19 in the Matador Country to 89.253.

However, hospitals remain under far less pressure than the previous wave of the pandemic, as the government reported 80 percent of the population older than 60 had received booster doses of the vaccine.

Madrid-based pharmacist Cristina Sanchez said she only received 20 test kits to distribute on Tuesday as part of a plan to strengthen supply after pharmacies began to run out of paid tests, but there were already more than 30 people waiting outside when she opened.

Since the first few people in line tend to take a few tests each, most have to go home empty-handed or buy a 9 euro kit, which also sells out quickly.

"People who are waiting outside, who are cold, who have waited a long time, we can't give it to them anymore," she told Reuters at her pharmacy on the outskirts of Madrid.

Meanwhile, taxi driver Miguel Jesus Arroyo was one of the lucky few to get the test.

"You have to get up early, because if you don't come soon, everything will end in an instant," he said.

Separately, Luca Zaia, head of the northeastern Veneto region which has been hit hard by the spike in the caseload, said he was concerned the test kits could run out soon and called on the government to drop testing requirements in certain situations.

"We can't let the testing system collapse," he said worriedly.

As well as Spain, Italy, one of the countries worst hit by the pandemic, has also reported an increase in infections and long lines have developed at some drive-in testing centers while many chemists are reporting a flood of requests for tests.