The Ministry will maintain the current restrictions for the time being, because the level of risk remains very high
The Region of Murcia has already passed the peak of the sixth wave, according to the data collected by the Epidemiology service, and the epidemic curve is beginning to experience a slight decline. Specifically, the seven-day cumulative incidence falls 20% in the last week, from 2,898 cases per 100,000 inhabitants to 2,313. The 14-day rate also falls, now standing at 5,225.
These are still very high figures, the Minister of Health, Juan José Pedreño, stressed yesterday, so the regional government has chosen to maintain the maximum alert level in all municipalities, as well as all current restrictions. Among them, the closure of non-essential activity at one in the morning and the use of the Covid certificate in those hospitality and nightlife establishments that want to maintain a capacity of 75% inside their premises.
The counselor once again appeals to the more than 83,000 people without vaccinationJuan José Pedreño
Yesterday, Health reported 1,621 new positives corresponding to Sunday compared to 2,397 on the same day last week, which underpins the downward trend. However, there is a clear risk of regrowth, and Health calls for prevention to prevent the current decline from becoming a mere mirage. This week will be key to confirm that the sixth wave has entered a new phase. In addition, “once the curve stabilizes, the risk is transferred to hospitalizations,” said Pedreño. In other words, the barrage of infections in recent weeks could lead to an increase in healthcare pressure. However, the truth is that at the moment this is not happening. 619 people remain hospitalized for Covid in the Region of Murcia, eleven fewer than at the end of last week. 81 of these patients are in the ICU: six more than on Friday, but twelve less than in the middle of the month, when the figure of 93 was reached.
More than a half
The sixth wave begins to show signs of remission after adding more than 152,000 cases in the Region of Murcia. This implies that since mid-November, when the current pandemic wave began to take shape, more than half of the 295,467 positives accumulated throughout the pandemic have been registered. The Delta variant was at first behind the increase in incidence, but the explosion of infections came in mid-December with Ómicron, which already represents 91.8% of all Covid cases registered in the Region, according to the latest report from the Ministry of Health. This barrage of infections has not, however, led to hospital collapse, although in the entire sixth wave there have been 1,522 admissions of patients with Covid in the Region, of which 218 have required ICU care. It is a far from negligible figure, although the real overflow has occurred in Primary Care, which has managed to monitor more than 45,000 patients at times of greatest saturation.
The impact of the vaccine
179 people have died from Covid in the Region of Murcia during the sixth wave (four of these deaths were reported yesterday by Health). This implies a mortality of just over 0.1%, reflecting the impact of vaccination. In the waves prior to the immunization campaign, mortality was around 1.3%.
The Minister of Health, Juan José Pedreño, yesterday appealed again to the more than 83,000 people who have not yet been vaccinated in the Region of Murcia. He also urged the entire population over 18 years of age to get the booster vaccine and, in this sense. it was aimed especially at the age group 50 to 59 years, which has a high incidence rate and coverage of the third dose is still low, at 61%.
Faced with the questioning of the booster injection by some immunologists, the vaccinologist Jaime Pérez, spokesman for the Ministry, stressed that there are many other vaccinations with three doses (hepatitis B, human papilloma from 20 years, etc.), for what “it is a fairly conventional guideline” that, in this case, protects “against infection and against severe Covid”.
Those over 50 years of age can go to the vaccination points without the need for an appointment. The population between 18 and 49 years of age does need to request a date and time through the web. There are still more than 30,000 free appointments for vaccination this week, Pedreño said. Nor do children from 5 to 11 years old need an appointment. 61,519 children have received the pediatric vaccine in the Region, which represents a coverage of 51%.
Vaccination against Covid “strengthens immunity against contagion, decreases the severity of the disease and avoids the possibility of being admitted to a hospital or an Intensive Care Unit,” stressed Juan José Pedreño.
Pedreño asks to “stop now” the controversy over the ‘vacunagate’
The Minister of Health, Juan José Pedreño, yesterday urged Citizens to “stop now” the controversy over the vaccination of senior officials outside the national protocol. Pedreño thus responded to the criticism of the liberal formation for the paralysis of the work of the investigation commission created in the Regional Assembly. «The Ministry of Health has already transferred all the information to the Prosecutor’s Office, and it was archived. From the first moment we wanted to give the list of names of vaccinated people, but the Legal Services do not allow us because we would be committing a crime by breaching the Data Protection Law, “he assured. However, the Transparency Council urged the Ministry in November to reopen the process for the publication of the names of these senior officials, previously granting them a hearing. “The existence of a prevailing public interest in access to information on the rights to data protection of the authorities should be considered,” warned the Council.
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