There is a great deal of relief in local nursing homes as the number of coronavirus infections continues to decrease across the province.

The incidence of covid-19 in nursing homes has seen an extraordinary decline in recent weeks. This has been confirmed by the records published on Friday by the Ministry of Health, showing that levels are now back to what they were last August.

In the province of Alicante there are currently positive cases in just three nursing homes.

However, the figures over the period of the virus have been especially cruel, affecting 10,800 elderly residents in the three provinces and claiming the lives of 2,010.

“This has been an absolute nightmare, very long and very difficult, and we now hope that the Ministry of Health will soon ease the restrictive measures that have been applied to the sector since last January 5,” said José María Toro, president of the Business Association of Residences and Services for Dependent Persons.

In his opinion, the immunity that vaccines have provided and the decrease in the accumulated incidence of cases in the whole of Valencian territory have turned the centres for the elderly into much safer places. “The residents, their families and the staff have suffered a lot in the last year. There is a lot of despair and it is necessary that we are now able to return to relative normality as soon as possible,” Toro said.