Date Published: 09/03/2022
ARCHIVED - Spain moves out of acute phase of pandemic: Covid update March 8
Hospital pressure and the Covid incidence continue their steady decline across Spain
Spain is about to bid farewell to the “acute phase” of the coronavirus pandemic when the Minister of Health and the regional councillors meet later this week to agree on the process of moving the country onto a sentinel system, whereby those with mild or no symptoms will no longer be subject to the “exhaustive” control measures currently in place and instead, health authorities can focus on the more vulnerable members of society.
This red letter day has come about as a result of the continuously improving coronavirus data; hospital admissions throughout Spain have dropped out of the high-risk category while the incidence rate has fallen below 500 cases and out of very high-risk – an extraordinary feat considering this figure was above 3,300 in mid-January.
Even though several communities, including Madrid, have called for a definitive decision to be made on indoor mask-wearing, it is not expected to be discussed at this week’s meeting.
Cumulative incidence rate
The accumulated incidence in the last 14 days per 100,000 inhabitants stands at 435.50 cases on Tuesday March 8, down from 443.89 the previous day, a strong indication that the sixth wave is receding.
This figure is coming down daily across the board, but the Canary Islands now have the highest incidence, at 881.34 cases. At the other end of the scale, Melilla has managed to bring its rate down to just 219.10 and is joined at the bottom of the table by Castilla-La Mancha (227.80) and Madrid and (237.59). Coming in a close fourth is Andalucía, with 257.98 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
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Younger people aged between 12 and 19 continue to have the highest rate in the country (718.19) while the vaccination campaign for younger children is making strong head-way, reducing the incidence in youngsters between 5 and 11 to 348.97 cases this Tuesday.
Coronavirus infections
The autonomous communities have notified the Ministry of Health of a further 23,149 infections on Tuesday, but unfortunately, these figures don’t tell us much; due to a technical glitch last week, the data for Monday and the prior weekend were all heaped into the March 1 numbers, and so are not a real reflection of the evolution of the pandemic.
Nevertheless, these new cases bring the total number of infections since the beginning of the pandemic to 11,159,574 and 206,362 positives have been recorded in the last two weeks.
Hospitalisations and fatalities
There are currently 5,294 people hospitalised across Spain with Covid (down from 5,544 yesterday) while 773 people are being treated in the ICU (down from 810).
In the last 24 hours, there have been 537 admissions (447 yesterday) and 726 discharges (357 yesterday).
The number of hospital beds occupied by coronavirus patients has gone from 4.48% on Monday to 4.26%; in the intensive care units, occupancy has dropped slightly from 8.88% yesterday to 8.46%.
On Tuesday, another 285 Covid-related fatalities were added to the tally, meaning that the overall death toll since the health crisis began now stands at 100,859.
In the last week alone, 301 people diagnosed with coronavirus have lost their lives.
Vaccination data
As of March 8, a total of 38,443,970 people over the age of 12, representing 91.1% of the population, have been double jabbed, while 92.9% (39,189,566 people) have received their first vaccine.
Now read: How to get a Covid passport and how to book an appointment for a vaccination or booster jab in Spain
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