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ARCHIVED - Eighth Covid wave approaches: Spain pandemic update October 18
Hospitalisations across Spain have increased by 21% in the last seven days
Health centres and hospitals are beginning to feel the pressure from the latest wave of coronavirus. Hospitalisations have increased by 21% in the last week and although the situation is still far from overwhelming, the experts have once again warned that Spain is in for a tough winter of combined flu and Covid infections.
Added to this concern is the recent arrival of the BQ.1 variant, which was discovered in wastewater in Catalonia, although this new strain hasn’t been detected in people yet.
The Secretary of Public Health confirmed that this Omicron subvariant presents "more transmissibility, but less severity." However, it’s one of the main candidates tipped to become dominant this winter given its great ability to evade immunity, a feature it shares with other emerging strains.
Coronavirus infections
The Ministry of Health has reported 20,652 new coronavirus cases since the last update, which is double the number recorded a week ago. Of these, 13,686 were diagnosed in people over the age of 60.
However, although the WHO has warned that “the Covid-19 pandemic isn’t over,” the global data over the past week was actually positive: three million cases were confirmed in the world, the lowest number so far this year, and 8,882 fatalities were reported, the second lowest figure in 2022.
From now on, pandemic data will only be released once a week rather than twice.
Cumulative incidence rate
Most worrying is the 14-day cumulative incidence rate in people over the age of 60. This important indicator has grown by 27 points to reach 195.61 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
The 7-day incidence rate in citizens aged 60 or over has also experienced another increase, rising from 86.32 cases to 99.85.
Those over 80 years of age have the highest level of risk of contagion, with an incidence of 278.50 cases, followed by septuagenarians (212.27), while the lowest level of transmission recorded is that of those in their sixties (131.96). All of these age groups have, unfortunately, noted an increase since the last report.
Looking at the incidence by autonomous community, the enclave of Ceuta continues to have the best figures, dropping to 32.95 cases this week.
It’s followed by Andalucia, with an incidence rate of 83.20.
The Valencian Community is hovering right around the national average, with an incidence rate of 187.86 cases per 100,000.
Hospitalisations and fatalities
Despite a sharp increase in the last seven days, hospital and ICU numbers are still at their lowest of the entire pandemic. There are currently 3,303 patients admitted to hospital throughout Spain (an increase of 587 people) while 174 people are being treated for more serious conditions in intensive care (compared to 129 last Friday).
A further 68 Covid-related fatalities were reported in Friday’s update, bringing the overall death toll in Spain to 114,641 people.
Vaccination data
As of October 18, 92.8% of the population over the age of 12 is fully vaccinated against Covid, which means that a total of 39,158,117 people have now received two doses.
In addition, 39,268,669 people (93.1%) have had at least one dose.
Image: Ministerio de Sanidad
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