Date Published: 03/03/2022
ARCHIVED - ICU admissions drop below 10 per cent: Spain Covid update March 3
Spain has exceeded 100,000 Covid-related fatalities since the start of the pandemic
Wednesday March 2 is an important day in Spain as the number of intensive care beds occupied by coronavirus patients has finally dipped below 10%, moving healthcare into the low risk category. This was a vital milestone for the country as the Ministry of Health confirmed earlier this week that once this threshold was reached, Spain could move from the “acute phase” of the pandemic to one of “surveillance and control”, putting the peninsula on the path to its new normal.
With the encouraging data, the Ministry has planned a meeting in Zaragoza for March 10 to hash out the details of the de-escalation, which will focus on monitoring people over 60 years of age and other vulnerable groups rather than the general population as a whole. It doesn’t look like the issue of wearing masks indoors in Spain will be discussed at this conference, but President Sánchez has hinted on more than one occasion that the days of this restriction are numbered.
Cumulative incidence rate
The Ministry of Health reported on Wednesday March 2 that the Covid incidence has been reduced by 30% in the last week alone, consolidating a downward trend that began six weeks ago. The accumulated rate in the last 14 days per 100,000 inhabitants now stands at 486.34 cases, compared to 515.10 the previous day.
Melilla (246), Castilla-La Mancha (274) and Andalucía (291) are still the communities with the lowest coronavirus incidence.
The Valencian Community is only slightly above the national average with 494 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
Coronavirus infections
A further 18,803 new Covid cases have been registered, well below the 33,911 positives reported on the same day last week.
This brings the total number of infections since the pandemic began in Spain to 11,054,888.
The positivity rate has also gone from 17.18% to 17.06% in the last 24 hours. While undoubtedly moving in the right direction, it is still far from the recommendations of the World Health Organisation (WHO), which wants this figure below 5% before it considers the spread of the virus to be “controlled”.
Hospitalisations
There are currently 6,188 patients hospitalised with Covid throughout Spain (down from 6,478 on Tuesday) while 902 people are being treated in the country’s ICUs (down from 962).
Crucially, the occupancy rate had dropped to 4.99% (5.23% the previous day) and intensive care has fallen below the 10% mark – today, 9.86% of ICU beds are occupied by Covid-positive patients.
Fatalities
The Ministry has reported a further 154 deaths on Wednesday, which is almost half the number recorded on the same day last week.
In the past week, 333 people have lost their lives to Covid, bringing the overall death toll since the health crisis began to 100,037.
Vaccination data
As of March 2, a total of 38,437,710 people have now received both doses of the vaccine, which represents 91.1% of the population over 12. In addition, 92.9% have had their first jab.
Now read: How to get a Covid passport and How to book an appointment for a vaccination or booster jab in Spain
Image: Ministerio de Sanidad
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