ARCHIVED - Hospital admissions down in Valencia region: Covid Update August 18

1,290 new daily Covid infections and 12 deaths in the region's three provinces, including Alicante

In its latest update, the Valencia region's Ministry of Health has confirmed there has been a spike in new cases, although the number of people being admitted into hospitals has dropped, as has the number of Covid-related deaths.

The region has the third lowest cumulative incidence rate which has once again fallen and now stands at 312.48 cases per 100,000 inhabitants (it was 326.44 on Tuesday). This is below the national average of 378.13 and that of the neighbouring Region of Murcia (370.75) and Andalucia (414.96)

New cases: Of the 1,290 new cases (up from 765 cases on Tuesday, August 17), 545 are in the province of Alicante (up from 375 yesterday), 567 in the province of Valencia and 178 in Castellón.
 
Hospitalisations: Valencia’s hospitals currently have 529 Covid patients (down from 573), of whom 87 are in intensive care (eight less than 24 hours ago): 197 in the province of Alicante (31 in ICU); 259 in the province of Valencia (47 in ICU); and 73 in the province of Castellón (nine in ICU). At the start of the week there were 668 people in hospital with coronavirus.
 
Discharges: 1,984 patients have been given the all-clear in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of people who have recovered since the start of the pandemic in the region to 479,207. By province: 171,203 in Alicante; 258,133 in Valencia; and 49,813 in Castellón.

Fatalities: According to the latest update, there have been 12 Covid-related deaths in the last seven days (down from 18), bringing the total number of fatalities since the start of the pandemic to 7,605. By province: 2,891 in Alicante; 3,894 in Valencia; and 820 in Castellón.
 
Vaccines: The health department has confirmed today that more than 70 per cent of the region's population over 12 years of age have now been fully immunised, which equates to 3,157,087 people: 1,130,544 in Alicante; 1,654,805 in Valencia; and 371,738 in Castellón.

Active cases: There are currently 15,910 active cases in the region (down from 16,616 on Tuesday and 18,024 on Monday); which represents 3.16 per cent of the total positives.

There are three reported outbreaks of 10 or more associated cases, all of social origin: Cervera del Maestre with 20 cases; Valencia with 11 cases; and Alicante, 10 cases.

In an attempt to prevent a rebound in cases, the Valencia region's Ministry of Health has cut the period between Covid infection and vaccination from six months to eight weeks. 

As such, the health department has already begun summoning those people who have not completed their vaccination because they were positive at the time of their original appointment.

IMAGE: GVA