Sixth Covid wave in Spain Escalates

The sixth wave of Covid is escalating in Spain with 49,802 new infections, 103 deaths and an increase in hospital ICU pressure.

The sixth wave of Covid is escalating in Spain with the Ministry of Health recording 49,802 new infections, 103 deaths and an increase in hospital ICU pressure.

The arrival of Christmas activities is exacerbating the new wave of Covid, with the national 14-day cumulative incidence rate yesterday, December 13, showing that the Constitution Day ‘bridge’ holiday caused incidence rates to rise to 58 over the weekend and is now at 381.26 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

The country as a whole is high risk and is getting closer to the 500 that marks very high risk, however, some reasons are far worse than others. Specifically, Navarra has a rate of 1,197, the Basque Country has 905 and Aragon is at  728.

The Ministry of Health added 49,802 new positives in the last 48 hours, a figure typical of the worst Monday of the pandemic. With this latest rise, the total number of Covid infections since March 2020 increases to 5,339,992, according to official statistics.

The number of deaths has also increased and are now are levels that haven’t been seen since mid-September.

In hospitals, the pressure is increasing with intensive care units at 12.60 per cent of their capacity occupied by Covid patients (11.41 per cent last Friday). There are 1,166 Covid patients in intensive care units nationally with over 5,000 Covid patients on the wards, representing 5.11 per cent of the total number of beds.

However, it is the Delta variant that is behind this sixth wave and not the new Omicron. According to an official report, from 29 November (when the first case was discovered) until 5 December only 36 infections with the new variant had been confirmed.

The Centre for the Coordination of Health Alerts and Emergencies (CCAES) in Spain maintains that even though Omicron cases are low this does not mean guards should be lowered.

The CCAES points out that “The first evidence indicates a greater escape from immunity than for Delta” and warns of the rapid expansion of the variant throughout the world, with “community transmission and rapid growth rate in several European countries.”

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