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ARCHIVED - Demand for antigen tests in Spain grows by 120 per cent
Spain’s Health Minister predicts that infections will continue to rise throughout the summer
The upward trend of the coronavirus pandemic in Spain continues to punish the country at the height of summer, right when most people expected that spending more time outdoors would reduce infections and serious illnesses.
Unfortunately, cases have been increasing for weeks and this has ultimately begun translating into more hospitalisations: hospital and ICU admissions have risen 21% and 16%, respectively, in the last seven days.
The latest data provided by the Ministry of Health on Tuesday July 6 paints a very bleak picture indeed, with 11,586 people currently in hospital across Spain and 503 people being treated for more serious illnesses in the ICU. Far from reassuring the public, the Health Minister herself said that this upward trend will continue due to the prevalence of the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants and recommended that people wear masks indoors if it is crowded.
It’s no surprise then that the sale of self-diagnosis Covid tests has gone through the roof in recent days. In fact, the demand in pharmacies for rapid antigen tests grew 120% in the first four days of July compared to last month, according to test distributor Cofares.
The company attributes the surge in sales to the upturn in the stealth Omicron variants, but also suggests that people are being responsible and taking the precaution of regularly testing themselves ahead of the summer holidays.
The sale of prescription-free antigen tests in pharmacies was approved in Spain in July last year but the demand fell off as the pandemic situation improved, peaking again over Christmas as people prepared for parties and get-togethers. A new surge appeared in April 2022 when retailers reported a monthly increase of 22.9%, coinciding with the end of the mandatory use of masks indoors.
Image: Pixabay
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