ARCHIVED - Spain Covid update July 29: second consecutive drop in incidence rate
46 more Covid fatalities in Spain but two thirds of the population have now received at least one vaccine dose
The latest daily coronavirus update published by the Ministry of Health on Thursday evening reports the second consecutive slight drop in the national 14-day incidence rate, with the confirmation of 26,689 new cases leading to a figure of 696 cases per 100,000 inhabitants (down by 3 points from the day before and 5 points from what may prove to have been the peak of the fifth wave in the Tuesday bulletin).
This adds to the feeling that the upward trend in infection may have been halted, and with the 7-day rate well under half the 14-day figure at 315 it seems reasonable to expect further decreases over the next few days. However, the PCR positivity rate of 16.06 per cent is still more than three times the target of 5 per cent set by the WHO as the threshold below which the pandemic can be viewed as being under control, despite a decrease on Thursday.
All of the country’s 17 regions remain significantly above the “extreme risk” threshold of 250 in terms of the 14-day rate, with the highest figures being reported in Catalunya (980, falling below 1,000 for the first time in two weeks), the Balearics (952), Navarra (917), and Aragón (819), while at the other end of the scale are Castilla-La Mancha (413) and Murcia (456).
Although the majority of the newly reported cases continue to be in teenagers and young adults who have not been fully vaccinated against Covid-19, as vaccination reaches more and more people in their 20s and 30s the differences are becoming less marked. The Thursday breakdown of incidence rates by age groups is as follows:
Age 0-11: 555 (up by 11 points)
Age 12-19: 1,595 (down by 23 points)
Age 20-29: 1,772 (down by 51 points)
Age 30-39: 872 (down 12 points)
Age 40-49: 456 (down 1 point)
Age 50-59: 344 (up 7 points)
Age 60-69: 330 (up 2 points)
Age 70-79: 197 (up 9 points, the only group below the extreme risk threshold)
Age 80+: 272 (up 11 points)
Hospital patients and fatalities
While the number of new infections seems to be stabilizing, as individual cases develop the figures regarding hospitalizations continue to rise. At present there are 9,725 Covid patients receiving hospital treatment in Spain as opposed to 7,618 a week ago, an increase of 27.7 per cent, and in consequence over 8.1 per cent of hospital beds are occupied by patients with positive test results.
Similarly, the number of intensive care Covid patients has risen by 32.5 per cent over the last week weekend to 1,644, accounting for 17.7 per cent of available beds, while in Catalunya that proportion remains at over 44 per cent.
At the same time, the Covid-related death toll in Spain rose by 46, the highest daily figure since early June, taking the official Ministry total related to the virus to 81,442.
Vaccination data
Following the administration of another 527,690 doses on Wednesday the number of people in Spain who are fully vaccinated against coronavirus has reached 26,694,887, equivalent to 56.3 per cent of the population.
31,592,444 people have received at least one vaccine dose, equivalent to 66.6 per cent of the population.
Significant progress is now being made in the age group with most cases being reported – those between 20 and 29. In this group the equivalent proportions are up to 16 per cent fully vaccinated and 44.6 per cent with at least one dose: just a week ago the proportions stood at 13.8 per cent and 32 per cent, and all over the country the mass immunization campaign is now moving on to those in their teens.