Barcelona Coronavirus March 2022 - Daily Updates and Advice for Visiting Groups

Tuesday 29 March 2022

The Ministry of Health for Spain has reported 56,633 new infections since last Friday. The total number of people infected since the start of the pandemic rises to 11,508,309.

The cumulative incidence rate (the number of cases diagnosed per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days) has risen from 461.86 to 466.51.

There have been 174 new deaths registered today, and 129 in the last seven days. The total deaths in the pandemic rises to 102,218. The data exclude deaths in residences and those who had symptoms compatible with Covid-19 but did not undergo a diagnostic test.

The downward trend of the cumulative case fatality rate has flattened after 2 months of steep decline. It today stands at 0.888 deaths per 100 diagnosed infections. This figure is misleading because it captures the very high death rate at the start of the pandemic, before widespread testing, effective therapeutics and mass vaccination.

There have been decreases in both the number of coronavirus patients admitted to hospitals throughout Spain (4,351, 146 less than yesterday) and those in intensive care units (492, 18 less). The occupancy rate for beds taken by coronavirus patients in Spain has decreased from 3.62% to 3.52%, and in intensive care units, from 5.59% to 5.40%.

A total of 39,190,846 people (83% of the Spanish population) have been vaccinated. This includes 38,969,612 (82% of the population) who have received their full schedule.

Tuesday 1 March 2022

The Ministry of Health for Spain has reported 58,561 new infections since Friday. The total number of people infected since the start of the pandemic rises to 11,036,085.

The cumulative incidence rate (the number of cases diagnosed per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days) has fallen from 613.15 to 515.10.

There have been 473 new deaths registered today, and 358 in the last seven days. The total deaths in the pandemic rises to 99,883. The data exclude deaths in residences and those who had symptoms compatible with Covid-19 but did not undergo a diagnostic test.

The downward trend of the cumulative case fatality rate has flattened after 2 months of steep decline. It today stands at 0.905 deaths per 100 diagnosed infections. This figure is misleading because it captures the very high death rate at the start of the pandemic, before widespread testing, effective therapeutics and mass vaccination.

There have been decreases in both the number of coronavirus patients admitted to hospitals throughout Spain (6,478, 770 less) and those in intensive care units (962, 91 less). The occupancy rate for beds taken by coronavirus patients in Spain has decreased from 5.84% to 5.23%, and in intensive care units, from 11.38% to 10.47%.

A total of 39,185,643 people (83% of the Spanish population) have been vaccinated. This includes 38,434,349 (81% of the population) who have received their full schedule.

Entry Requirements for Spain

Teenagers aged 12 to 17 travelling to Spain from outside the EU or the Schengen bloc can enter with just a negative PCR test carried out within 72 hours before arrival. Children under 12 years of age do not require a negative test or vaccination.

All adult arrivals to Spain from the UK must present proof of vaccination or documentation that certifies they have recovered from a COVID-19 infection in the last 6 months.

For proof of vaccination, at least 14 days must have passed since being fully vaccinated before arrival in Spain. The date(s) of vaccination must be specified and the final dose must have been administered within 270 days prior to travel. If the vaccination was completed more than 270 days prior to travel, proof of having received a booster jab must be shown. Booster jabs can be administered at any time prior to travel to Spain (December 21, 2024).

UK Government Foreign Office Advice

Foot Notes

¹ Chinese and American researchers have used the infection data from the first few weeks to model the temporal and spatial evolution of the coronavirus first in Wuhan, the start of the pandemic, and later in 375 other Chinese cities. To see how the virus could progress, they overlapped this information with the movement patterns of hundreds of millions of Chinese recorded by the telecommunications company Tencent in Chunyun 2018. This period of the Chinese lunar calendar begins a few days before the Chinese New Year. and it lasts for several weeks afterwards. This year, the New Year fell precisely on January 23. Thus they were able to estimate how the coronavirus moved. The work, published in the Science journal, has found that until Wuhan's forced isolation, 86% of all infections were not being detected. That is, only 14% of the infected were under control. The rest, whether asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic, continued to lead their normal lives. Thus, for many days there were two very different transmission rates. That January 23, there were only 801 documented cases throughout China, while the total number of new COVID-19 infections during 10â€“23 January in Wuhan city is estimated at 13,118 (documented and undocumented combined).
After Wuhan's closure measures, later extended to much of China, the dynamics of the epidemic changed in the city of origin. Between January 24 and February 8, the study authors estimate that the percentage of invisible infected people drops to 35%. They also come to light faster. For the first time, the basic reproduction number (R0) of the epidemic, understood as new infections for each infected person while sick, fell to 0.99. It was the first step in controlling the epidemic, although only in Wuhan.
Source: Science Magazine
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2020/03/13/science.abb3221

² The National Centre for Epidemiology estimate that the number of those affected in the 2017-2018 influenza season was 752,000 people, with nearly 15,000 related deaths. Hospitalisation was necessary in 52,000 of the cases, 14,000 of them had serious complications and 3,000 required admission to the ICU.
Source: Epidemiology and Public Health Networking Biomedical Research Centre (CIBER)
https://www.ciberisciii.es/noticias/estiman-en-800000-personas-los-afectados-por-la-gripe-del-pasado-ano

³ According to the National Centre for Epidemiology, some 6,300 people died in Spain due to influenza last season, 2018-2019. The Influenza Surveillance System estimated that 490,000 people affected by mild cases of this pathology attended the Primary Care centres, in addition to some 35,300 confirmed hospitalised patients, of which 2,500 entered the ICU. Among the deaths registered in the country, 83% were older than 64 years and 13% belonged to the group of 45-64 years.
Source: DiarodeAvisos https://diariodeavisos.elespanol.com/2019/10/6-300-personas-fallecieron-por-la-gripe-la-pasada-temporada/

⁴ The first of the deaths from coronavirus recorded in Spain occurred on February 13, although the patient, a 69-year-old man, had travelled to Nepal, making it difficult to track the infection. The case was discovered by an autopsy.

⁵ Since 2010, both the governments of Spain and those of its different autonomies (health care is a transferred competence) have approved a series of health care cuts that weakened the system. In 2020, Spain budgeted 5.9% of its GDP for public health spending. This percentage was 6.77% in 2009. Catalonia is one of the Spanish autonomous regions that has cut the most in recent years, dedicating just 3.9% of its GDP to public health this year. The European average is 7.5%
Source: El Periodico: https://www.elperiodico.com/es/sanidad/20200318/recortes-7895906
A December 2019 FACUA report reveals that Catalonia is the Spanish region with the longest wait for a Public Health family doctor appointment. 74% of respondents expect a wait of at least one week.
Source: El Periodico: https://www.elperiodico.com/es/sociedad/20191215/catalunya-comunidad-mayor-tiempo-espera-medico-cabecera-7772135