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Date Published: 25/10/2022

ARCHIVED - Covid infections skyrocket: Spain pandemic update October 25

ARCHIVED ARTICLE -

The coronavirus incidence in Spain has more than doubled in the last two weeks

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Covid infections skyrocket: Spain pandemic update October 25

For the past few months, the majority of the pandemic data published by the Ministry of Health in Spain refers only to those aged over 60. Information released by the ANTICIPA-COVID19 Complutense Observatory of Emerging Infections this week paints a very different and startling picture: the 14-day cumulative incidence rate for the entire population has skyrocketed from 800 cases per 100,000 inhabitants on October 3 to 1,900 in the latest report, more than doubling.

The health situation stabilised in September but this new spike, according to the experts, is reminiscent of the “abrupt increases detected at the beginning of the last two big waves”.

Similar trends were observed late in 2021, which coincided with the appearance of the Omicron variant, and in April-May, at the start of the wave that peaked in July.

It’s too soon to tell whether this is just a temporary glitch exacerbated by the influenza season, or a genuine new wave accelerated by a new coronavirus variant.

In the meantime, the Observatory recommends now “more than ever,” remaining vigilant in terms of “adequate ventilation” in public spaces and advises that masks should still be worn indoors wherever there are crowds.

Coronavirus infections

The Ministry of Health has reported 20,652 new coronavirus cases since the last update, around 5,000 more than the same day last week. Of these, 16,634 were diagnosed in people over the age of 60.

This brings the total number of infections since the beginning of the pandemic to 13,488,015.

Cumulative incidence rate

Most worrying is the 14-day cumulative incidence rate in people over the age of 60. This important indicator has grown by another 26 points to reach 221.58 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

The 7-day incidence rate in citizens aged 60 or over has also experienced another increase, rising from 99.85 cases to 112.24. Crucially, this number is more than double the 14-day figure, which indicates that infections will continue to increase in the coming days.

Looking at the incidence by autonomous community, the enclave of Ceuta continues to have the best figures, standing at 65.89 cases this week.

It’s followed by Andalucia, with an incidence rate of 96.83.

The Valencian Community is faring well and is now well under the national average, with an incidence rate of 192.55 cases per 100,000.

Hospitalisations and fatalities

Despite a sharp increase in the last seven days, hospital and ICU pressure remains relatively stable. There are currently 3,357 patients admitted to hospital throughout Spain (an increase of 54 people) while 175 people are being treated for more serious conditions in intensive care (compared to 174 last Friday).

This means that 2.7% of all hospital beds are occupied by Covid patients while the occupancy rate in intensive care is at 2%.

A further 75 Covid-related fatalities were reported in the update, bringing the overall death toll in Spain to 114,858 people.

Vaccination data

As of October 18, 92.8% of the population over the age of 12 is fully vaccinated against Covid, which means that a total of 39,159,018 people have now received two doses.

In addition, 39,269,602 people (93.1%) have had at least one dose.

Image: Ministerio de Sanidad

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