ARCHIVED - Sixth wave enters final stretch: Spain Covid update March 2
Weekly Covid-related fatalities in Spain have plummeted by 30%
Last month marked a final blow for the sixth wave of the coronavirus pandemic in Spain, and the experts are confident enough in the evolution of the health crisis to relax some of the country’s more restrictive measures, such as quarantine for Covid contacts.
Their assurance is well-founded, as daily infections decreased by 3% over this weekend compared to last and in the last month alone, the cumulative incidence rate has dropped by more than 2,000 points. Most importantly though, with the Omicron variant predominating and the bulk of the population now vaccinated, weekly Covid-related deaths have plummeted 30% in the last seven days alone after two months of continuous increases.
Coronavirus infections
The Ministry of Health registered 58,561 new coronavirus infections on Tuesday March 1 after a technical glitch delayed an update on Monday. This brings the total number of infections since the beginning of the pandemic to 11,036,085.
Cantabria is the autonomous community that has reduced its daily infections the most, essentially halving the number in a week while Galicia and Madrid aren’t too far behind, with a decrease of 34%.
Cumulative incidence rate
The 14-day incidence rate has dropped a further 98 points since Friday to stand at 515 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, an immense achievement considering that this figure registered 2,694 on February 1.
The overall positivity rate has also decreased considerably, down from 35.83% at the beginning of last month to just 19.22% today.
Although it has reduced its daily infections the most, Galicia is still holding on to the top spot for incidence rate, registering 825 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
The Region of Murcia’s incidence has plummeted 80% in the last month and has finally dipped under the 700-case mark, while the Valencian Community is just slightly above the national average at 537. Andalucía is now third from the bottom after Castilla-La Mancha and Madrid with a rate of just 333 infections per 100,000 people.
With a disappointing uptake of vaccinations, those aged between 12 and 19 continue to have the highest incidence rate in the country, at 792 cases per 100,000 people.
Hospitalisations and fatalities
There are currently 6,478 people admitted to hospital for Covid throughout Spain, 962 of whom are being treated in the country’s ICUs. In the last 24 hours, 609 people have been admitted to hospital while 876 have recovered and been discharged.
Spain has also made great strides in this area in the last month: at the beginning of February, 21.71% of all intensive care beds were occupied by Covid positive patients; this figure has now dropped to 10.47%.
Similarly, in the wards, occupancy has been reduced from 14.52% on the 1st of last month to 5.23% on March 1.
A further 473 Covid-related fatalities have been reported since Friday, which brings the overall death toll since the health crisis began in Spain to 99,883.
Vaccination data
As of March 1, a total of 38,434,349 people over the age of 12, representing 91.1% of the population, have been double jabbed, while 92.9% (39,185,643 people) have received their first vaccine.
Now read: How to get a Covid passport and How to book an appointment for a vaccination or booster jab in Spain
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