ARCHIVED - Covid infection rates rise again in Spain but the fourth wave is currently little more than a light swell
121 more fatalities as the official Covid death toll in Spain passes 77,000
The latest coronavirus update published on Monday evening by Spain’s Ministry of Health provided a mix of encouraging and discouraging news, with another rise in the 14-day incidence rate of Covid-19 accompanied by signs that the fourth wave of infection, which followed the Easter holiday period, may be a relatively insignificant one in comparison with previous surges in contagion.
The 14-day rate rose from 213 cases per 100,000 inhabitants last Friday to 230.5 on Monday, and the regions of Andalucía (263), Aragón (272) and Catalunya (254) joined Madrid (407), Navarra (429) and the Basque Country (400) in the “extreme risk” category. This means that over half of the population are living in areas of extreme risk, but on the other hand the 8.2 per cent increase over the weekend was less steep than the previous week, and at the same time the 7-day rate of 110 is less than half the fortnightly figure, indicating that the spread of infection may be starting to slow.
At the same time, while the Comunidad Valenciana (39.3) continues to be the only region occupying the “low risk” zone there are four other regions reporting figures of under 100, namely Galicia (90), Murcia (68) and the Balearics (61).
With the confirmation of 21,071 new cases of coronavirus over the weekend, the proportion of hospital beds occupied by Covid patients rose slightly to 8.32 per cent and in intensive care units the equivalent figure is up to 22.4 per cent, although the situation in this respect differs greatly among the regional health services, ranging from 3.7 per cent in Murcia to over 40 per cent in La Rioja and Madrid.
Evaluating the latest data, Fernando Simón, the Director of the Coordination Centre for Health Alerts and Emergencies, believes that it now appears that the effect of increased travel and socializing over Easter holidays has so far not been excessive, due in part to restrictions having been maintained by regional governments and in part to the rise in the number of people immunized in the mass vaccination campaign: approximately 20 per cent of the population of Spain have now received their first dose of the vaccines.
Unfortunately, though, the death toll continues to rise, and the addition of a further 121 Covid-related fatalities over the weekend takes the official Ministry total since early last year to 77,102.