Total Lockdown May Not Be Necessary in Madrid as Hospital Admissions Drop

In the first week of COVID restrictions, admissions to Madrid’s Hospitals fell from 324 new patients to 79.

Spanish Pm, Pedro Sanchez, had warned Isabel Díaz Ayuso that if she couldn’t take control of the coronavirus crisis in Madrid then the Federal government would. If the figures just released continue to subside in Madrid then this action may not be necessary.

The Community of Madrid announced tighter restrictions on eight new areas this week but ruled out total confinement- they decided against a total lockdown. Figures supplied by the General Directorate of Public Health of the Community of Madrid last Monday, September 14th, showed there were a total of 2,583 people admitted to hospitals in the region. On Friday 18th there were 2,907, which showed an increase of 324 patients.

Hospital admissions drop

This week, the number of patients admitted to hospital have seen a decline. The week started on Monday the 21st with a total of 3,180 registered new cases. Five days later, this Friday, September 25th, the number reached 3,259. Hospital admissions, however, have dropped from 324 a week earlier down to 79 on Friday this week. There are now fewer people in Madrid’s hospitals due to COVID-19 than a week ago.

This is partly due to the fact that there have been 283 more people discharged from hospitals compared to 7 days ago, these numbers represent discharges, not deaths. Also, not all new cases require hospital admission, 14 days quarantine in a lot of cases is all that is needed.

Better testing

According to the Deputy Minister of Health and the COVID-19 Plan, Antonio Zapatero, the high number of cases that the tracking system is detecting is responsible for the high figures. In other words, the more tests, the more cases are detected. Madrid currently performs 117,000 tests per week (one of the highest in Spain for every 100,000 inhabitants) and estimates that it is detecting between 80-85% of all infections. That is, only 2 out of 10 cases go under the Madrid health radar.

More thorough and faster testing, more accurate data collection and an increase in ICU availability is a strategy the community of Madrid has adopted to stop a complete take-over of the crisis in the community by the federal government.

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