Date Published: 24/11/2020
ARCHIVED - 231 cases and 10 deaths; Covid update Murcia Region Tuesday 24th November
ARCHIVED ARTICLE
The number of new cases remains at a level last seen in August for the second consecutive day
The coronavirus pandemic continues to work its way through the population, and although the number of new cases being reported has fallen considerably in the last week, 231 new cases have been detected during the last 24 hours in the Murcia region.
This is however, a huge improvement on the situation two weeks ago and raises hopes that the spread of the virus is being contained by the restrictions imposed.
Of the 231 new cases, 49 correspond to the municipality of Murcia, 25 to Cartagena, 17 to San Javier, 15 to Torre Pacheco, 13 to Los Alcázares, 9 to Yecla, 8 to Alhama de Murcia, 7 to Archena, 7 to San Pedro del Pinatar, 7 to Las Torres de Cotillas, 6 to Cieza, 6 to Molina de Segura, 5 to Alcantarilla, 5 to Fuente Álamo, and 5 to Lorca, with the remainder in smaller quantities around the region.
The graphic shows how the number of cases has dropped in the last few days.
Although the virulence of the virus is reflected in the high number of cases detected, it is in fact the percentage of PCR tests giving a positive result that is the most positive data, as this reflects the spread of the virus amongst the population, so the good news is that the percentage of tests yielding a positive result dropped to 5.73% on Tuesday, a third of the levels being detected two weeks ago.
Worst affected municipalities:
The worst affected municipality in the region continues to be Yecla, with 432 cases per 100,000 of inhabitants, followed by Totana with 412, Los Alcázares with 371, San Javier with 335 and Jumilla with 304. This is an endlessly changing graph, with municipalities moving up and down depending on the scale of local outbreaks.
The graphic shows the worst-affected municipalities.
Fatalities:
The regional health authority has warned for weeks that a higher number of cases would translate into a higher number of deaths in this second wave, and this is the case, as although the numbers of new contagions has fallen, the high number of active cases will continue to translate into fatalities for probably a further two week period.
In the last 24 hours a further 10 fatalities have been reported; five males and five females, aged between 73 and 93, six from Murcia City municipality and the remainder from Villanueva del Río Segura, Cehegín, Calasparra and Molina de Segura. This takes the total number of fatalities to 567.
Hospitalisations:
At the weekend the number of hospitalisations was reduced, but in the last 24 hours 20 new admissions have taken the number of covid patients requiring hospital attention to 493, and the total in intensive care to 101.
The total of patients with mild symptoms and self-isolating at home has now dropped to 7,784.
Recoveries:
The number of patients receiving the all-clear after originally testing positive via PCR continues to increase, and 41,428 of the 51,978 total positives diagnosed have now recovered from the virus. Deducting fatalities and recoveries, this leaves a balance of 8,277 active cases.