Date Published: 15/03/2022
ARCHIVED - Slight increase in incidence rate: Spain Covid update March 16
Hospital pressure in Spain has also increased but the level of risk remains low
As the experts agree that Spain is emerging from the “acute phase” of the sixth wave of the pandemic, the Ministry of Health has announced that from now on, Covid data will only be released twice-weekly, relating to the figures submitted by the autonomous communities every Tuesday and Friday.
And while the evolution of the pandemic is still positive on the whole, the steady decline the country has been experiencing of late appears to have stagnated a little, with eleven communities actually registering notable increases over the weekend.
Nationally, the incidence rate has climbed marginally both on Friday (March 11) and on Monday (March 14), and while ICU pressure continues to drop, hospitalisations also went up over the weekend, though Spain’s health system remains in the low-risk category.
Cumulative incidence rate
The 14-day figure has risen by two points on Monday March 14 to stand at 432 cases per 100,000 inhabitants after it gradually decreased all last week by more than 30 points.
On Monday the 7th the incidence was 443 cases, 20 points less than on Friday the 4th. In the following days it continued to drop to 429 cases last Thursday and on Friday, it recovered one point.
The age groups increasing the average incidence throughout Spain are those between 12 and 19 years (697 cases) and young adults between 20 and 29 (531). After marking a spectacular improvement, children under the age of 11 now have the lowest cumulative incidence rate in the entire country, with just 313 cases per 100,000, followed very closely by people aged between 60 and 69 years (314).
Little has changed regarding the positioning of the autonomous communities: Melilla still has the lowest cumulative incidence rate in Spain, at just 215 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by Castilla-La Mancha (219) and Andalucía (258).
Galicia (883) has overtaken the Canary Islands (814) to hit the top spot, while the Valencian Community continues to make good headway, standing at 329 cases per 100,000.
Coronavirus infections
Since Friday, the last date for which data is available, an additional 36,066 Covid cases have been registered, which brings the total number of infections since the beginning of the pandemic to 11,260,040.
Between March 5 and 11, a total of 634,828 diagnostic tests were carried out, resulting in a positivity rate of 17.04% - still far from the 5% stipulated by the WHO to consider the pandemic under control.
Fatalities
Between Friday and Tuesday, 281 people lost their lives to Covid in Spain, which brings the overall death toll since the start of the health crisis to 101,416.
Hospitalisations
Hospital occupancy figures have also increased compared to Friday, although the level of risk remains low. There are currently 4,894 hospitalised Covid patients throughout Spain (4,777 on Friday) that represent 3.95% of the occupied beds (up from 3.84%). As for ICUs, occupancy has decreased slightly: there are now 682 patients being treated in intensive care for more serious conditions (689 on Friday), which represents an occupancy rate of 7.48%.
In addition, in the last 24 hours there have been 495 admissions and 297 discharges.
Vaccination data
A total of 38,971,798 people over the age of 12 have now been double jabbed, which represents 92.4% of the population. In addition, a further 39,177,875 people, or 92.9%, have had the first dose.
In addition, a total of 24,114,643 people, or 50.9% have now had their booster jab.
See also: How to get a Covid passport and How to book an appointment for a vaccination or booster dose in Spain
Image: Ministerio de Sanidad
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