Laurence Dollimore
SPAIN has recorded its worst weekend since the start of the pandemic after detecting 52,188 cases over the past three days.
The figure represents a 36% growth in cases over the past seven days and means there was an average of around 17,000 positives detected each day over the weekend.
In comparison, last Monday saw 37,889 cases detected over the same period.
“It is true that the evolution in Spain is different from other countries, it is rising fast, but not as much as in other countries,” Fernando Simon, director of the Center for the Coordination of Health Alerts and Emergencies (CCAES), said at a press conference tonight.
The expert added that the number of asymptomatic cases was still high, hovering above 45%, suggesting a robust testing system across Spain.
The total number of cases detected across the country since the start of the pandemic is now 1,098,320.
But with a soaring number of cases, the cumulative incidence rate from the past two weeks has now jumped to 410 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, up by 50 from Friday.
Five regions and two autonomous cities are now registering 500 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, the threshold set by the health ministry at the beginning of October for the confinement of large cities.
Navarra is the worst hit region, with 1,102 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, a national record.
Aragon follows with 820, then La Rioja with 684, Castilla y Leon 643 and Catalunya with 584.
Melilla has an incidence rate of 1,060 cases per 100,000 inhabitants and Ceuta 547.
“Three weeks ago a decrease was indicated, but now we have three weeks of significant ascent, which has offset that previous decrease,” Simon said tonight.
“Spain is going very clearly upwards and we have to be very concerned.
“Practically all the autonomous communities are in a very high risk situation, and those that are not, with the exception of the Canary Islands, are at a high level.”
The health leader was the most pessimistic he has been in months and admitted the healthcare system was coming under increasing strain.
“We have 13.7% of hospital beds being taken up coronavirus and 24.2% of intensive care beds, with significant varying figures between regions,” he said.
In Madrid and Aragon, more than 40% of ICU beds are taken by the virus.
“There is a hospital that is in a very critical situation,” he added.
Not mincing his words, Simon said if the situation is not reversed, by mid-November ‘there will be a number of ICUs in a very, very complicated situation… possibly close to collapse.”
Over the past three days, some 279 people lost their lives to the virus in Spain.
