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Date Published: 15/03/2022
ARCHIVED - Is a seventh Covid wave on the cards for Spain?
The incidence rate has stagnated in Spain this week and many experts fear a rebound
Health experts in Spain have voted that from March 14, coronavirus figures will only be published on a twice-weekly basis, due to the favourable evolution of the pandemic. It is also expected that the government will announce the finer details of its transition plan to a new, more sentinel system of monitoring the health crisis later this week. But while those in the know all agree that the “acute phase” of the sixth wave is behind us, does that mean that the actual pandemic is too?
The dynamics of the virus thus far have taught the experts to look to neighbouring countries, and the news isn’t all that promising. Last Friday, March 11, the incidence rate in Spain rose for the first time since January, a theme that has been mirrored in the UK and which may point to a stagnation in the drop in transmission.
Spanish epidemiologist and researcher at the University of Leicester, Salvador Macip, points out that in Britain, cases began rising “from the moment they lifted all the restrictions” on February 24; measures will be reduced even further on March 18, when all travel rules will be scrapped for entering the UK.
In Spain, the cases and mortality rate remain as high as they were at the end of last summer, and Mr Macip warns that if restrictions are ended too soon, a seventh wave could be upon us in no time.
Doctor Salvador Peiro insisted last week that the pandemic is far from over, but that the health situation will remain stable “until well into the summer, and if there is a rebound, it will not be serious.”
We have already seen with the fourth and fifth waves, which were caused by Delta, that a new variant isn’t essential for a rebound, but all of the previous “big waves” have been caused by a novel strain; therefore, the experts believe that with constant and vigilant monitoring, a seventh, low-level wave is the most likely scenario.
Now read: How to get a Covid passport and how to book an appointment for a vaccination or booster jab in Spain
Image: Wikimedia Commons
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