Date Published: 04/12/2020
ARCHIVED - New coronavirus cases and hospitalisations fall again; Friday 4th December Murcia Region
ARCHIVED ARTICLE
The last set of coronavirus figures for the Murcia Region before the Bank Holiday on Friday 4th December continue to offer hope, although at the same time the regional health authority has taken the opportunity to yet again plead with residents that they respect the restrictions in place this Bank Holiday weekend, do NOT go “border hopping for a beer” and continue to take precautionary measures to protect themselves and their loved ones.
On a side note, the late- night news reported from a hospital in America yesterday where they’ve now had 14 million cases and have 100,000 in hospital, as well as showing body bags piled up in a Russian hospital. It was quite shocking to see a patient in intensive care with tears in his eyes pleading with people to wear a mask and protect themselves, these graphic images a blast of cold reality for those of us privileged to live here and be walking along the seafront on a warm autumn afternoon in an area with low urban density and in which we now have such a low level of contagions.
Cases
There are still new cases being reported every day, but the numbers are so much lower than they were previously and we just have to hope that people are sensible this weekend and that we don´t see another spike in cases after the four day holiday.
The regional health authority has pointed out that the week after the All Saints and All Souls is the week in which new contagions peaked at around 1,000 a day and that contagions increased by 40% in the period following the festivities on October 12th, “festivities and the pandemic don´t sit well alongside each other, “the spokesman said when presenting this latest set of figures today.
He also reminded residents that municipal border restrictions remain in place until 9th December and that residents of areas in which bars and restaurants are still closed are not permitted to cross the borders into other municipalities.
Today the region reported 167 new cases, of which 37 correspond to the municipality of Murcia, 17 to Cartagena, 14 to Mazarrón, 13 to Abanilla, 10 to Lorca, nine to Puerto Lumbreras, eight to Cehegín, eight to Yecla, seven to Cieza, five to Archena, and five to Jumilla, with the remainder distributed amongst other municipalities in smaller quantities. The total number of cases detected in the region to date is now 54,516.
Fatalities: Five further deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours; four males and one female, aged between 53 and 76, three from Murcia City, one from Jumilla and one from Cieza, bringing the total fatalities to date up to 624.
Hospitalisations
Hospitalisations: The number of patients admitted with more severe cases of coronavirus fells by 15 to 326, in the last 24 hours. This downward motion was the same in Intensive Care Units (ICU), which fell from 82 to 78. In the last seven days, hospitalizations have fallen by 23%, while the number of patients in intensive care has been reduced by 16%. The total number in home isolation with milder cases fell to 3,697 (this figure reached 11,000 a month ago).
2,393 PCR tests were carried out in the last 24 hours, which is considerably lower than the quantities undertaken in previous weeks, but the percentage of tests yielding a positive rate has also fallen notably, the figure in this instance being 6.9%.
The total number of recoveries is just about to pass a landmark figure, being 49,869 and the total number of active cases as of today is 4,023.
AI rate:
This week the 7 day accumulated incidence rate for 7 days has fallen to 84.4 and the 14 day rate to 202, which puts Murcia right near the bottom of the list nationally once again, a position it occupied throughout the first wave.
The worst-affected municipalities over the last 7 days are; Aledo with 489 cases per 100,000 of population, Los Alcázares with 371, Abanilla 293, Torre Pacheco 269, Cehegín 173, Archena 165 and Alhama de Murcia with 154.