The number of new infections registered per 100,000 inhabitants within a week has now risen to a maximum of 1,348, as the Ministry of Health in Madrid announced on Monday evening. Last Thursday, the seven-day incidence was 1,086. Since then, more than 372,000 new infections have been recorded, it said. For comparison: The seven-day incidence in Austria was 289 on Tuesday. In mid-October, Spain had recorded an annual low of around 18 for the seven-day incidence. The authorities meanwhile assure that the situation in the hospitals is still largely under control thanks to the high vaccination rate, since the vaccine in most cases ensures infection without symptoms or with a milder course of the disease.
Most recently, around ten percent of all hospital beds and 21 percent of all intensive care beds in Spain were occupied by Covid patients. These numbers are also climbing, but more slowly. “Only very few infected people have to go to the intensive care unit,” said Presidential Minister Félix Bolaños on Tuesday.
To contain the pandemic, the national mask requirement was reintroduced shortly before Christmas. In several regions there are 3G rules, curfew or nightly exit restrictions, in others – such as Madrid – there are hardly any restrictions. More than 90 percent of all citizens over the age of twelve in Spain already have full basic immunization. In addition, around a third of all children between the ages of five and twelve have already received a first dose of vaccine.
Source: Nachrichten
