Confident in the progress of vaccination, in a hurry to resume a normal life, the Catalans have been facing since the beginning of the month a fifth wave of the Covid-19 epidemic, particularly virulent, boosted by the circulation of the Delta variant (near 90% of new cases). To deal with this, on Saturday July 24, the regional government announced the postponement of all non-urgent medical and hospital appointments.
“All the capacity [de soins] is reserved for urgent or non-postponable activity, given the fact that, compared to the first wave, the demand for urgent pathology and not Covid is higher ”, the Catalan health department explained in a statement, assuring that “The health system is in a critical situation” and that he expects, “In the next ten days, the number of hospitalized patients continues to increase”. In addition, private hospitals have been called upon.
Incidence rate multiplied by 10 in three weeks
At first, the abrupt acceleration in the spread of the epidemic in Catalonia – which has coincided with the lifting of numerous restrictions and the end-of-year travel of high school and college students – did not appear to have major repercussions. on hospitalizations. The progress of vaccination, with 84% of people over 40 having received their two doses, has notably reduced the proportion of infected people hospitalized. However, the explosion in the incidence rate, to 525 cases per 100,000 inhabitants over seven days – against 55 at the end of June – ended up undermining the health system.
Although the majority of new cases correspond to young people who do not present major complications, the scale of the epidemic has finally translated into a sharp increase in hospitalizations. While at the end of last month less than 11% of intensive care units (ICU) were occupied by Covid patients, the latter now represent 40% of ICU patients. With vaccination, their profile has changed: nearly 20% of them are under 40 years old. Moreover, the vast majority are not vaccinated. According to the Secretary of Public Health in Catalonia, Dr. Carmen Cabezas, less than 13% of people hospitalized since the beginning of July had completed their vaccination, while 73% had not received any dose.
In hospitals, the situation has become difficult as a large number of doctors and nursing staff are on leave after providing “A sustained effort since the start of the pandemic”, recognized the Catalan health department, which wishes “Guarantee their rest” and not having to mobilize them during their vacation.
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