Date Published: 05/08/2021
ARCHIVED - Spain Covid update August 4: incidence rates drop again but 71 more fatalities
ARCHIVED ARTICLE
58 per cent of the Spanish population are now fully vaccinated against Covid-19
The daily coronavirus update published by Spain’s Ministry of Health on Wednesday evening reports another significant drop in the national 14-day incidence rate, with the confirmation of 21,874 new cases leading to a figure of 633 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, almost 70 points lower than what appears to have been the peak of the fifth wave last week.
On top of that, the 7-day rate continues to be well under half the 14-day figure. Now standing at 265, this seems to indicate that there will be further decreases over the next few days.
However, the PCR positivity rate of 15.13 per cent is still more than three times the target of 5 per cent set by the WHO as the threshold below which the pandemic can be viewed as being under control.
All of the country’s 17 regions remain significantly above the “extreme risk” threshold of 250 in terms of the 14-day rate, with the highest figures being reported in the Balearics (904), Navarra (767), La Rioja (756) and Catalunya (710), while at the other end of the scale are Asturias (436), Castilla-La Mancha (473) and Murcia (469), as well as the north African enclave of Ceuta (292).
While the majority of the newly reported cases continue to be in teenagers and young adults who have not been fully vaccinated against Covid-19, the differences are becoming less marked. The Wednesday breakdown of incidence rates by age groups is as follows:
Age 0-11: 533 (down by 51 points compared with the Tuesday figure)
Age 12-19: 1,319 (down by 139 points)
Age 20-29: 1,388 (down by 171 points)
Age 30-39: 701 (down 84 points)
Age 40-49: 392 (down 44 points)
Age 50-59: 322 (down 32 points)
Age 60-69: 296 (down 32 points)
Age 70-79: 202 (down 20 points and still the only group below the extreme risk threshold)
Age 80+: 273 (down 26 points)
Hospital patients and fatalities
Despite the encouraging signs, the effects of the fifth wave are now being felt even more strongly in hospitals throughout the country and on Wednesday another 71 Covid-related were added to the toll since the start of the pandemic, taking the official Ministry total to 81,844.
However, it is at last possible to report that the number of Covid patients receiving hospital treatment fell, down by 127 to 10,184. They no account for 8.6 per cent of occupied hospital beds, but the number of intensive care Covid patients again rose slightly to 1,904 (accounting for 20.76 per cent of available beds), and in Catalunya the proportion remains at an alarming 47 per cent.
Vaccination data
Following the administration of another 511,000 doses on Tuesday the number of people in Spain who are fully vaccinated against coronavirus has reached 27,811,786, equivalent to 58.6 per cent of the population.
32,650,750 people have received at least one vaccine dose, equivalent to 68.8 per cent of the population.
Significant progress is now being made in the age group with most cases being reported – those between 20 and 29. In this group the equivalent proportions are up to 19.4 per cent fully vaccinated and 54.3 per cent with at least one dose, while among teenagers the proportions have already reached 3.7 per cent fully vaccinated and 17.9 per cent with at least one dose.
Image: regional government of Valencia
article_detail |