Teruel has suffered an exponential growth in its coronavirus infections in the last week, it leads the transmission in Aragon and is among the provinces with the most cases in relation to its population in the entire country. The province registered this Thursday a cumulative incidence of covid-19 to seven days of 45 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, triple that of the previous Thursday, when there were 14 cases per 100,000. This is more than double the regional figure, which was 18 cases, according to official data updated yesterday afternoon on the Transparency Portal of the Government of Aragon.
The same trend is observed in the incidence at fourteen days with 64 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, while a week ago there were 21 cases. In Aragon this Thursday there were 30 cases (half that in Teruel). The increase has been even more pronounced in the population aged 60 and over, although it must be taken into account that diagnostic tests are focused on these most vulnerable groups.
According to the report of the main monitoring indicators of covid-19 from the Ministry of Health (with data up to April 19), in this age group, Teruel has gone from 28 cases per 100,000 inhabitants to seven days -on April 12 – to 111 cases this Wednesday, that is, it has quadrupled. The fourteen-day rate has also multiplied by four: from 31 cases per 100,000 to 140.
With these rates, Teruel – which remains at alert level 1 – is among the Spanish provinces with the highest transmission of the virus. In the case of the seven-day incidence, it is the fourth territory with the most infections in relation to its population, only surpassed by Soria (184 cases per 100,000), Salamanca (121) and Guadalajara (119). In the incidence accumulated to fourteen days, Teruel is the tenth province with the highest rate.
absolute numbers
In absolute numbers, Public Health reported in Teruel – between April 14 and 20 – a total of 57 positives for covid-19, compared to 18 in the previous seven days. In Aragon, 236 cases of covid were detected in this period, 120 more than from April 7 to 13. By provinces, there were 149 in Zaragoza, 57 in Teruel, 29 in Huesca and one from other origins.
In the province of Teruel, the capital concentrated 40% of the infections. Thus, the health zone of Teruel Centro registered thirteen positives and was the one that reported the most cases in Aragon and in Teruel Ensanche, another ten were confirmed. Cella also reported ten positives and together with Teruel Ensanche it was the third Aragonese area with the most cases. In addition, in the Muniesa area, six cases were diagnosed; in Valderrobres there were five positives; in Alcañiz and Mas de las Matas three were reported each; in Alcorisa and Mosqueruela two were detected and there was one in Albarracín, Calaceite, Híjar, Monreal del Campo and Santa Eulalia.
Despite the increase in the transmission of the coronavirus, the situation in hospitals remains normal. There has been an increase in patients with a positive covid test but admitted for other reasons, going from five last week to ten (six at the Obispo Polanco Hospital, three at the San José Hospital -both in the capital- and one in Alcañiz Hospital). As for patients hospitalized for covid, there is only one, the same as a week ago, in the center of Bajo Aragón. In the set of Aragonese hospitals, 36 covid patients and 88 with covid (three in the ICU) were treated this Thursday. The previous week they were 31 and 60, respectively.
The ministry report shows that in Teruel the rate of new admissions to acute care beds has increased in the last week, from 7.43 admissions per 100,000 beds to 9.66, making it the province with the highest rate in Spain. The percentage of occupancy of conventional hospitalization beds has also grown, which has gone from 1.24% to 2.97%.
