ARCHIVED - Covid outbreak at Ibiza nursing home; most residents are double vaccinated
27 residents and staff test positive, with one in a critical condition.
A quarter of the 97 elderly residents and two members of staff at a nursing home in Ibiza have tested positive for Covid.
The Balearic's Ministry of Health has confirmed 27 positives amongst residents and two of the 86 members of staff at the island's Sa Residència centre, 10 of whom have been admitted to Can Misses Hospital hopsital, with one of the employees in intensive care.
The remaining 15 are currently in isolation at the nursing home, and will remain in quarantine for 20 days
The infections were detected during a weekly screening of unvaccinated staff on Monday, July 19, when one positive case was initially confirmed before a fully vaccinated resident was also diagnosed, prompting mass testing at the centre.
Of those diagnosed, three are not vaccinated and one has received only the first dose.
During the first wave of the Covid pandemic in Spain more than 20,000 residents of care homes are known to have died from Covid, according to the association representing care home owners in Spain; the figure also ties up with the excess mortality figure produced by the National Statistics Institute and Carlos III Institute.
These deaths were not officially included in the national covid statistics as they occurred before PCR testing kits were widely available, and to this day, have never been included in the national covid deaths figures.
Now that testing kits are more widely available, and it has become apparent that even those who have been double-vaccinated can still contract the virus, testing carehome workers has become a priority, hence this detection.
The 14-day cumulative incidence rate in Ibiza currently stands at 735 cases per 100,000 inhabitants - higher than the Balearic Islands' average of 650, and Spain's 622.
The UK has now removed the Balearic Islands from its green list.
IMAGE: Archive