Surging coronavirus cases put Spain in ‘very high-risk’ category

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) - Spain’s two-week coronavirus infection rate surged beyond 500 cases per 100,000 people on Friday, putting the country into the “very high-risk” category, according to the Health Ministry.

After boasting one of Europe’s lowest infection rates just a couple of months ago, Spain’s epidemiological situation has quickly deteriorated to become one of the continent’s worst.

According to the criteria set by the World Health Organization and the European Union, countries with an average of more than 300 per 100,000 people in COVID-19 are shown as "high risk", and those over 500 are "very high risk".

An explosive cocktail of factors, including the omicron variant, the upcoming holiday season, cold weather, and relatively relaxed restrictions, has experts predicting that Spain could soon see an unprecedented number of new infections.

At the moment, the northern half of the country, which has recently seen weeks of cold and rain, is home to Spain’s highest infection rates.

Some hospitals in the Basque Country and Navarra have had to cancel non-urgent surgeries. In Asturias, Adrian Barbon, the region's vaccinated leader, was admitted to the hospital Friday night for a case of COVID-19 and has temporarily passed his power onto the vice-premier.

And while the northern regions have the highest infection rates, contagion is beginning to surge with equal strength across Spain’s entire geography.

Madrid saw its infection rate double in just one week and is reporting that the omicron variant is making up around 60% of new cases.

Despite the exponential growth rate, the central government has not hinted at new measures, although Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will call a meeting to discuss the subject next week.

Masks remain obligatory indoors, as they have since mid-2020, some regions require vaccination or negative test certificates to access certain spaces, but life continues as normal in most of the country.

The main focus of Spain’s response to the pandemic in recent months has been vaccination. Nearly 90% of all Spanish residents older than 12 have been fully vaccinated. Another 10 million people have received a booster shot.

As a consequence, deaths, and hospitalizations are much lower than in previous waves.

Last January, when the country entered into the same “very high risk” situation, almost 19,000 people were hospitalized and 774 people had died in a week.

Now, there are almost 6,700 COVID-19 patients in hospitals and 195 people died in the past seven days.