Date Published: 14/01/2021
ARCHIVED - New Covid record in Spain with almost 39,000 new cases on Wednesday
ARCHIVED ARTICLE
The Covid incidence rate is near the peak reached in the autumn and continues to rise quickly
The third wave of coronavirus contagion in Spain continues to accelerate as the effect of the Christmas and New Year relaxations in pandemic restrictions continues to filter through in the daily updates published by Spain’s Ministry of Health, and on Tuesday the Ministry reported a further 38,869 confirmed cases of Covid-19.
This is the highest figure yet reported since Covid-19 was first detected in Spain almost a year ago, easily surpassing the total of 25,595 which was reached during the second wave of infection on 30th October. At the same time, the number of cases detected in this country has now risen to 2,176,089 and the total is likely to continue rising sharply until the tighter restrictions on movement and social gatherings which are now being introduced in most parts of the country take effect.
One of the most widely quoted measures of the extent of the pandemic in Spain is the 14-day accumulated incidence rate, which has soared to 492 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the last fortnight, an increase of 38 points since the previous day’s update. The rate is still slightly lower than the peak of 529 which was reached on 3rd November, but the recent upward trend suggests that it is likely to exceed that figure in the very near future and already it is almost double the threshold of 250, above which the national health authorities describe the situation as being of “extreme risk”.
The regional breakdown of the data published by the Ministry show that at present the worst-affected of Spain’s 17 Autonomous Communities are Extremadura, with a 14-day incidence rate of 1,131, Murcia (713) and La Rioja (649), while at the other end of the scale only the Canary Islands (155) and Asturias (220) are below the “extreme risk” threshold.Click here for source data
Wednesday’s daily bulletin also reported another 195 fatalities concerning patients diagnosed with Covid-19, taking the official total up to 52,878, but separate data published by the government’s central statistics unit indicate that in reality the figure could be almost 40 per cent higher. The estimated number of deaths from all causes in Spain between the middle of March and the end of last year is 391,399, just over 80,000 more than in the same period in 2019, and without any other major catastrophes or diseases to explain the difference it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the pandemic is the factor behind the increase.
Meanwhile, the pressure on hospitals and the regional health services across Spain continues to rise, and the proportion of hospital beds occupied by Covid patients stands at 14.64 per cent. In intensive care units the situation is even more critical with Covid patients accounting for 27.76 per cent of all beds occupied, and with around 16 per cent of all tests carried out currently returning positive results it seems certain that the next few weeks will be very difficult indeed.