Los Arcos, La Arrixaca and Santa Lucía have the highest occupation due to the coronavirus
The explosion of infections registered in recent weeks in the Region of Murcia is already translated, as was foreseeable, in an increase in hospitalizations. This increase accelerated yesterday, so that in a single day it went from 76 admitted by Covid to 93, a figure that had not been reached since mid-September.
75 of these patients remain in the ward, and another 18 in ICUs. Los Arcos is the hospital with the highest number of admitted patients (19 on the ward and 3 in the ICU), which corresponds to the high incidence achieved throughout the Mar Menor area. Torre Pacheco currently suffers a rate of 694 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the last fourteen days.
Meanwhile, in La Arrixaca 17 patients remain on the floor and 3 in the Intensive Care Unit. Occupancy is also significant in Cartagena, with 12 hospitalized on the ward and 4 in the ICU. The port city reaches a cumulative incidence in fourteen days of 332 cases per 100,000, and is at a high risk level.
But also in the rest of the hospitals in the Region, the rise in healthcare pressure due to Covid is beginning to be noticed. In the Reina Sofía there were 10 patients on the ward yesterday and 3 in the ICU, according to the figures provided by the Ministry. “There was a significant increase over the weekend, although fortunately we were able to register,” explains Enrique Bernal, infectious disease specialist and Covid coordinator at the Reina Sofía. The profile of the patients is twofold: on the one hand, “unvaccinated young people” and, on the other, “elderly patients with comorbidities” and in many cases immunosuppression problems. However, if infections continue to rise “all kinds of patients will end up entering,” Bernal warns.
The pressure is noticeable in the Emergency services and above all, and as in previous waves, in Primary Care. Thanks to mass vaccination, the vast majority of cases will present with mild symptoms in this sixth wave, but for health centers this implies a very high healthcare burden, which can be aggravated if it coincides with the influenza epidemic.
Six centers on orange level
At the moment, six health centers are at the orange level, including the two located in Torre Pacheco and those in Puerto de Mazarrón, Cartagena Este and Molinos Marfagones, also in Cartagena.
The number of active cases of Covid rises to 2,502 in the Region of Murcia, of which 2,409 are in home isolation, with follow-up by family doctors and pediatricians. Added to this is the tracking of their close contacts.
Four days without notification of deceased
Health reported 245 cases corresponding to Thursday, which represents a slowdown in the increase in infections. 66 of these positives were detected in Murcia and 38 in Cartagena, which continues to be one of the cities most affected by the sixth wave in the Region. There were also 15 cases reported in Molina de Segura, 14 in Cieza, 13 in Torre Pacheco, 11 in Alcantarilla, 9 in Alhama de Murcia and 7 in Lorca. The rest of the positives are distributed by other localities. The good news is that the Region of Murcia now has four days without deaths reported by Health. As for the positivity rate, it is already 7.85%, according to the daily statistics of the Ministry of Health.
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