Staff Reporter
DESPITE the recent warm weather in Spain, the incidence of Covid-19 cases is continuing to rise, and has in fact been on the up for six consecutive weeks now.
According to the latest figures from Spanish health authorities, the incidence has risen from 57.7 cases per 100,000 inhabitants to 74.8 cases over a seven-day period, as per testing in primary care facilities. Just two weeks ago, that figure was as low as 33.5.
In hospitals, meanwhile, figures are also on the rise. The estimated rate of hospitalisation due to Covid-19 has gone up from 2.2 to 3.6 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, according to figures cited by online daily 20 Minutos.
This is a higher rate than that registered a year ago, and nearly as high as the rate that was seen in 2021, just 15 months after the global pandemic first took hold.
The symptoms reported for those who are suffering infections, however, are thankfully mild. According to information from the Carlos III Health Institute, they are coughs in 82% of cases, general discomfort (78%), sore throat (67%), and fever (65%).
What’s more, more than half of those questioned reported the sudden onset of symptoms, as well as headaches and muscular pain.
Medical experts cited by Spanish daily El Pais, however, say that the symptoms of Covid-19 are increasingly mild, and are more similar to a common cold or flu most of the time.
But older people and those with pre-existing health conditions are still at risk, and should take increased precautions at this time when infections are on the rise, the paper reports.
