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Just a few days ago the Spanish authorities warned that flu, after arriving a month early this year, has already reached epidemic levels. Now, we’re seeing beds piled up in hospital corridors and queues of coughing patients out the doors of A&E departments across Spain.

 

When flu exceeded the epidemic threshold, cases stood at 37 per 100,000 inhabitants before quickly shooting up to 41 infections. Today, that rate has almost doubled to stand at 75.3 cases per 100,000 people.

 

"In terms of severity, since the beginning of the season [at the end of September], cases hospitalised for flu have presented 21.5% pneumonia, 4.1% admission to the ICU and 4.9% fatality," the ISCIII respiratory diseases report published on Thursday December 4 states.

 

At the moment, the most vulnerable to flu are small children between one and four years old, among whom infections have escalated from 115 to 208.3 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in seven days. The second most affected age group is those between five and 19 years old, with 189.2 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. The lowest rates, around 35 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, are concentrated in those over 60 years of age.

 

Yanira Suárez, a nurse in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, explained that many patients are waiting three or four days for a bed because there aren’t enough to go around. This scenario is being repeated all around the country.

 

According to the Independent Trade Union Center and Civil Servants (CSIF), "in some hospitals in Andalucia, patients are already piling up in the hallways and have to wait up to 14 hours for a bed in the emergency room, and up to three days to be admitted to the ward."

 

Regarding the situation in Primary Care, the union spokesperson explained that in some places, "the waiting list reaches 15 days." Furthermore, "it is common for surgeries and diagnostic tests to have been suspended due to insufficient staff in the health services of some autonomous communities."

 

Fernando Hontangas, president of the national health sector of CSIF, points to the overwhelming shortage of healthcare professionals as one of the culprits for this crisis.

 

During a press conference earlier this week, he pointed out that “since September, 44,000 health professionals have been fired," before announcing the call for an indefinite strike starting on January 27, every Tuesday, of the entire staff of the National Health System due to the refusal of the Ministry of Health to agree on a new Framework Statute that improves their working conditions.

 

Regarding Andalucia, CSIF reports that "admission to the ward takes 72 hours, and in some cases patients remain on stretchers accumulated in the hallways for more than 14 hours while they wait for a bed."

 

As for Madrid, they speak of "tense" services and "waits of up to three hours to be assessed."

 

The Generalitat Valenciana has taken measures to contain infections and has announced the hiring of 273 health workers, a reinforcement that will involve a disbursement of €1.5 million that "will prevent possible overloads of those areas that may be most affected such as emergency services, observation areas and hospital units."

 

Although most workers in the thick of things would agree that the flu epidemic has reached crisis point, the Spanish government doesn’t agree. A consensus was reached on Wednesday that Spain remains at level 1 alert, meaning that while facemasks are recommended in areas like hospitals and elderly care homes, they’re not yet mandatory.

 

However, each regional government is free to decide for themselves if they want to mandate masks and several, including Andalucia, have already chosen to do just that.

 

Images: MATA union