ARCHIVED - Covid incidence falls in Spain but concerns grow over a possible fifth wave

Experts disapponted by enthusiastic celebrations of the end of the state of emergency 

The Ministry of Health coronavirus update which was made public on Monday afternoon indicated a further improvement in the situation throughout Spain, with incidence rates and hospital and ICU patient numbers all continuing to show a steady decrease, but the tone of the press conference given by Fernando Simón, the Director of the Coordination Centre for Health Alerts and Emergencies (CCAES), was far from optimistic.

On the face of it, the data gathered over the weekend in Spain are encouraging. After 13,984 new cases were confirmed the 14-day accumulated Covid incidence rate now stands at a little under 189 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, having fallen from a fourth-wave peak of over 230 a couple of weeks ago, and only 4 of the country’s 17 regions remain above the “extreme risk” threshold (the Basque Country, Madrid, Navarra and Aragón). At the other end of the scale, the Comunidad Valenciana is still the only region considered to be at “low risk”, with a rate off 35, but there are now 6 more with figures of under 100 (Murcia, Extremadura, Galicia, the Canaries, the Balearics and Asturias).

At the same time, the proportion of hospital beds occupied by coronavirus patients has dipped to 6.8 per cent and the equivalent figure in intensive care units is down to 21.4 per cent (although it is still over 40 per cent in the region of Madrid).

However, Sr Simón, while stressing that important progress is now being made with the mass vaccination campaign, expressed grave concern and disappointment at the way in which many people celebrated the end of the 6-month national state of emergency at the weekend. All over the country groups partied well into the night, disregarding the pleas for caution and underlining fears that there could yet be a fifth wave of contagion in Spain.

“The end of the state of emergency was not the end of coronavirus, nor the end of preventative measures, nor the end of the risks”, the CCAES director warned. The fear, of course, is that the exuberance with which some chose to celebrate the end of the official emergency and the spread of vaccination will lead to a false sense of security among the population, potentially leading to another increase in the strain being placed on regional health services all over the country.

Fernando Simón still hopes that the impact of the weekend’s events will be limited, but expects a rise in infection rates as a result of the increased socializing. Already calls are becoming more widespread for the national government to take a harder line in ensuring that limits on social gatherings are imposed, empowering regional governments to introduce tougher restrictions.

Underlining the fact that the threat of coronavirus has by no means passed, a further 103 Covid-related fatalities were reported over the weekend, bringing the total in Spain to 78,895 since the pandemic first reached the country early last year.