Date Published: 01/07/2021
ARCHIVED - Covid incidence rate in Spain rises sharply as contagion soars among young adults
ARCHIVED ARTICLE
Cases in unvaccinated age groups push the overall incidence rate up to 117
The latest pandemic update by Spain’s Ministry of Health on Wednesday evening showed an acceleration in the recent increase in the number of infections, with the 14-day accumulated incidence rate up to 117.2 cases per 100,000 inhabitants – a rise of around 10 per cent in just 24 hours.
Now that over half of those aged over 40 in this country have received at least one vaccine dose, it can be seen from the breakdown of the figures that the majority of this upward trend is due to a sharp increase in contagion among teenagers and young adults.
Part of the surge in cases amongst young people is undoubtedly linked to the "macro outbreak" which has followed the end of acadmic year parties held by young students in the Balearic islands. More than 1,700 cases across Spain have followed a week of partying.
The latest data show the following incidence rates for different age groups among the national population:
Age 0-11: 80
Age 12-19: 288
Age 20-29: 293 (with figures of over 700 in the regions of Cantabria and Catalunya)
Age 30-39: 154
Age 40-49: 106
Age 50-59: 52
Age 60-69: 45
Age 70-79: 18
Age 80+: 23
Meanwhile, there is still significant variation among the data in the different regions of Spain, although only in five regions is the 14-day rate higher than the national average: Cantabria (194), Andalucía (163), Catalunya (183), La Rioja (131) and the Canaries (119).
At the other end of the scale are Ceuta (16.6), Castilla-La Mancha (53), Galicia (58) and the Region of Murcia (61).
At the same time, one of the consequences of there being more infections among younger people rather than the elderly is that the number of Covid patients receiving hospital treatment continues to fall. They now account for 1.95 per cent of all occupied beds, while in intensive care units the equivalent figure has dropped to 6.52 per cent.
However, the latest update also reports a further 46 Covid-related deaths, bringing the official Ministry toll since the start of the pandemic to 80,875.
Vaccination data
The number of people to have received the full dose of immunization vaccines in Spain has risen to 17.52 million, equating to 36.9 per cent of the population (well on the way to reaching the target of 70% set by the government to achieve “herd immunity”).
The 25.32 million to have received at least one vaccine dose represent 53.4 per cent of the entire population.