Covid incidence in Catalonia worsens: R number and EPG increase
51 new coronavirus deaths have been certified in the last 24 hours
BarcelonaHalfway through Christmas season, the epidemiological situation in Catalonia is worsening while the scientific community continues to call for more restrictions to try to stop the third wave. In the last 24 hours there have been nearly 2,000 new infections of coronavirus, 51 deaths and a hundred hospital admissions, while both the effective potential growth and the reproduction (R) number of the virus have increased again. According to the data updated this Saturday by the Department of Health, the EPG, which refers to the potential growth of the virus, has risen 25 points in a single day and now stands at 368.
On the other hand, the R number of the virus is situated this Saturday at 1.02, two hundredths more than yesterday, which means that every 100 infected people spread the covid-19 to 102 people. There are currently 1,859 people admitted in Catalan hospitals for coronavirus, a hundred more than the day before, and the number of patients in intensive care units remains at 373.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Catalonia has diagnosed 403,641 people with coronavirus, of which 1,973 have been confirmed in the last 24 hours by PCR or antigen tests, serological tests or ELISA tests. In total 3,907,492 PCR tests and 790,683 rapid antigenic tests have been performed in Catalonia, of which 8.10% have come out positive. Catalonia has also counted 51 more deaths by coronavirus in the last 24 hours, which means the total number of deaths since March already reaches 17,146.
Meanwhile, the vaccination campaign continues in Catalonia and there are already 6,093 people - residents and professional workers in retirement homes - who have received the first of the two doses that the medical standard sets.
The Catalan acting president, Pere Aragonès, recognized yesterday that the situation of the pandemic in Catalonia is "very complex" and warned that the Government is "ready to take the necessary decisions if the epidemiological data continue to worsen".
