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ARCHIVED - Worrying rebound in fatalities: Spain Covid update March 21
Hospital and intensive care occupancy continues to fall throughout Spain
After weeks in decline, the Covid incidence rate is once again on the rise and virus-related fatalities have increased fivefold in a week, according to the latest data published by the Ministry of Health in Spain on Friday March 18.
While health experts in Madrid have in recent days claimed that the “pandemic is surely over,” many communities have registered slight increases, coinciding with the removal of restrictions in some areas. Despite this, Deputy Minister of Public Health and Health Care, Antonio Zapatero, has called once again for the removal of masks indoors, insisting that “it is time to open the debate.”
Coronavirus infections
The autonomous communities have registered 64,597 new coronavirus infections on March 18 since the previous Tuesday, although this data is unfortunately not comparable with the previous week, when the Ministry was still reporting daily cases.
Nevertheless, this data brings the total number of infections since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic to 11,324,637.
In the past two weeks, a total of 211,241 positive cases have been recorded.
Meanwhile, the positivity rate has risen from 17.04% to 17.50% over the weekend, a far cry from the 5% recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Cumulative incidence rate
The 14-day incidence rate has jumped more than 13 points since Tuesday to stand at 445.80 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. The figure has increased in all but six autonomous communities in the last week.
Madrid now has the lowest incidence rate in Spain, with just 220 cases per 100,000, followed very closely by the north African enclave of Melilla, at 221. Castilla La-Mancha (241) and Andalucía (282) are next in line, although both have registered a rise in cases.
At the other end of the spectrum is Extremadura, with 930 cases, followed by Galicia (899) and the Canary Islands (874).
Young people aged between 12 and 19 continue to register the highest figure (650) while children under the age of 11 have the lowest incidence (317).
Hospitalisations
Hospital pressure is one area that is still experiencing a steady decline. There are currently 4,580 patients admitted with Covid across Spain (down from 4,894 on Tuesday) while 597 people are being treated for more serious conditions in the country’s ICUs (down from 682).
In the last 24 hours, there have been 508 admissions (495 on Tuesday) and 577 discharges (297 on Tuesday).
These figures mean that 3.69% of all hospital beds are occupied by coronavirus patients (3.95% on Tuesday) while the intensive care occupancy rate has dropped from 7.48% to 6.55%.
Fatalities
A further 287 Covid-related fatalities were registered on Friday, compared to 58 the previous week, which brings the overall death toll since the health crisis began to 101,703.
Vaccination data
As of Friday March 18, a total of 38,945,187 people over the age of 12, which represents 92.3% of the population, have been double jabbed while 92.9% have had one dose (39,185,106 people).
According to the Ministry of Health, 24,312,467 people have received their booster jab while 32.2% of children between the age of 5 and 11 years have had both vaccines.
You might also like: How to get a Covid passport and how to book an appointment for a vaccination or booster jab in Spain
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