ARCHIVED - Covid incidence rate across Spain has doubled in the last 7 days

Covid rates in Spain on July 6 are twenty times higher than on the same day a year ago.

Just a week after the wearing of facemasks in most outdoor spaces was made optional rather than obligatory, the rate of coronavirus infection has doubled and is threatening to continue rising as the number of cases soars, particularly among young adults.

The latest Ministry of Health data, which were published on Monday evening show that during the weekend the 14-day incidence rate of Covid-19 shot up from 153 to 204 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, a rise of 33 per cent in just three days and just over double the figure a week previously. A further 32,607 cases have been confirmed, bringing the total since the pandemic reached Spain to 3.86 million, and spokesman Fernando Simón, the Director of the Coordination Centre for Health Alerts and Emergencies, describes the latest news as “not good”.

A year ago, on 6^th July 2020, when Spain had just emerged from the first major state of emergency and lockdown, the reported incidence rate was just 9.82 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

Once again, the latest Ministry update underlines the extent to which infection is currently concentrated in teenagers and young adults, with the incidence rate in the 20-29 age group having reached 640 cases per 100,000 people. In Catalunya the equivalent figure is a staggering 1,589, and the indicator is also above 1,000 in Cantabria and Castilla y León.

The full breakdown of 14-day rates by age groups per 100,000 of population in the Monday bulletin is as follows:

Age 0-11: 101

Age 12-19: 584 (maximum 1,530 in Navarra)

Age 20-29: 640 (maximum 1,589 in Catalunya)

Age 30-39: 249

Age 40-49: 139

Age 50-59: 73

Age 60-69: 62

Age 70-79: 26

Age 80+: 31

It also remains the case that there is a significant amount of variation in the situation among Spain’s 17 regions. According to the latest update, the highest figures are to be found in Catalunya (440) and Cantabria (304), both well above the “extreme risk” threshold of 250, and in consequence both have been placed on the list of “high risk” travel destinations by the national government of Germany.

At the other end of the scale are Ceuta (27.3), Castilla-La Mancha (57), the Region of Murcia (81) and Galicia (89).

Hospital patients

Until now it has been the case that the predominance of infection in the young has led to the pressure on health services and hospitals continuing to ease, but it now appears that this is no longer the case. For the first time in two months the number of Covid patients receiving hospital treatment rose over the weekend and they now account for 2.26 per cent of all occupied beds, while in intensive care units the equivalent proportion has also increased slightly to 6.73 per cent.

Nonetheless, the number of Covid-related fatalities over the weekend was relatively low at 23, and the official total since early 2020 now stands at 80,934.

Vaccination data

Following the administration of a further 1.14 million vaccine doses over the weekend, the number of people in Spain who are fully vaccinated against coronavirus has reached 19,135,448, equivalent to 40.3 per cent of the population.

26,505,676 people have received at least one vaccine dose, equivalent to 55.9 per cent of the population.

However, in the 20-29 age group only 13.5 per cent have received their first jab and the proportion fully immunized has reached only 10.5 per cent.