The epidemiological curve in Spain is still falling, but this third wave is leaving behind significant damage: February is now the month with the highest number of Covid-19 deaths since the first wave of the pandemic last spring. And that is with three more coronavirus reports still to come from the central Health Ministry before the month is out.
According to the latest figures, released on Wednesday evening, there have been 9,387 Covid-19 deaths in Spain in February so far, with 389 added to the overall death toll in the last report.
The good news is that the 14-day cumulative number of coronavirus cases per 100,000 inhabitants came in at 218, having fallen below the “extreme risk” level of 250 earlier in the week. All of Spain’s regions, apart from Madrid, the Basque Country and the North African exclave cities of Ceuta and Melilla, are now under that 250-case level according to the report.
As has been seen in the previous waves of the health crisis, during this third spike it was infections that rose first, due to socialising over the Christmas period, then hospital admissions, followed by increased occupation of intensive care unit (ICU) beds, and finally a rise in the number of deaths.
According to the ministry’s figures, 873 people have died after testing positive for Covid-19 in the last seven days, while the total death toll since the outset of the pandemic now stands at close to 68,500. This does not include, however, the thousands of fatalities that went untested in the first wave.
February has now outstripped November in terms of the death toll – that month, in the midst of the second wave, saw 9,191 victims. The worst month, however, continues to be April, during the first wave, when there were around 15,500 fatalities. At that time, it should be pointed out that the statistics and reporting were not as well-honed as they are now.
Despite the bad data in terms of victims, the situation is improving throughout Spain. Despite the falling curve, Health Minister Carolina Darias has called for caution. “In the last four weeks, there has been a very fast fall in the incidence over the last four weeks,” she said at a press conference. “This rapid fall has been uneven and there is also a reduction in the speed of descent. The average daily fall is 7 percent but this varies from region to region.”
The Health Minister predicted that the fall in the curve will continue in Spain, but it will be uneven from region to region. She repeated her call for prudence when it comes to the de-escalation of the current restrictions in place. “We know the consequences of previous de-escalations that were carried out in an abrupt manner,” she warned.
The situation in the country’s hospitals continues to be serious across Spain, and a new spike in cases would be dangerous for the health system. According to the latest report, 30% of ICU beds are occupied by Covid patients (3,241), and in some regions, these high numbers are persisting over time.