Level changes will be effective this Thursday night from 00:00 on Friday, August 27. This decision is based on the report of the General Directorate of Public Health which highlights the downward trend of all pandemic indicators both in the Canary Islands as a whole and in each of the islands. The average of the Accumulated Incidence rate at seven days in the Autonomous Community as a whole and in the islands decreases by 34% compared to the previous week, which corroborates the downward evolution of this indicator, going from a daily average of 139.5 cases per 100,000 inhabitants to 92.5 cases per 100,000 inhabitants this week.
The report highlights that From August 18 to 24, 1,771 cases have been reported, which represents a decrease in the daily average of the number of reported cases around 29% compared to the previous week. All the islands have followed this pattern, except Fuerteventura, which has remained stable this week.
In relation to the rates of AI7d in the population aged 65 and over, a decrease is observed both in the Autonomous Community as a whole (average risk in the last two days) and in each island. In Tenerife the rate is at high risk, in Gran Canaria it ranges from high to medium, in Fuerteventura it is at medium risk and in the rest of the islands the level is low or very low.
Regarding the characterization of the variants that are circulating in the Canary Islands, according to the data of the last epidemiological week, it is estimated that 86.3% are probable Delta (B.1.617.2), 1.5% Alpha (B .1.1.7) and 0.2 Beta (B.1.351) / Gamma (P1).
COVID-19 bed occupancy
The number of conventional beds occupied by COVID-19 patients is in decline in the islands, thus in the whole of the Autonomous Community it has gone from a daily average of 291 occupied beds to 256. The percentage of occupancy is at low risk or very low in all the islands except Tenerife, which is at medium risk.
The number of occupied ICU beds began a slight change of sign in its evolution with respect to the previous week, in which an increase persisted in relation to the previous weeks. The Community as a whole has gone from an average of 106 occupied ICU beds to an average of 97 in the last week. In Tenerife the decrease is 5 beds on average and in Gran Canaria it is 4 compared to the previous week. In Fuerteventura, four people remain in the ICU and in Lanzarote there is an occupied bed and another admission in this unit, while in the rest of the islands they do not have patients in the ICU. Regarding the indicator, the percentage of occupancy in ICUs is at very high risk in Tenerife and at high risk in Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and the whole of the Autonomous Community. In this indicator in the rest of the islands, the risk is very low.
The report of the General Directorate of Public Health states that “it must be taken into account that in this fifth wave a greater risk of infection was attributed to young people, however, the passage of weeks and the limitations imposed on containment measures non-pharmacological, contributed to the spread of the infection to the family, work and social environments of other age groups. At first, the average age of people admitted to conventional beds and the ICU fell and younger people had to be assisted in hospitals. This pattern is the one that has been observed in recent weeks. Now, after the older age groups have been exposed and affected, and the incidence rate declining, although it is still at high risk, the median age of patients in hospitals has increased ”.
The median age of all people hospitalized for COVID-19 in the last 15 days is 63 years and in ICU it is 58 years. Furthermore, 20% of those admitted to the ICU in the last 15 days are between 12 and 39 years old. It should be noted that of the 198 people admitted to conventional beds in the last two weeks, 57% were unimmunized; a figure that in the case of those admitted to the ICU rises to 77%.
Deaths
The number of daily deaths has been increasing since the last week of July, so that, in the Autonomous Community as a whole, the daily average of deaths in the week between July 21 and 27 was two deaths; the week between July 28 and August 3, was 3; Between August 4 and 10, the daily average is 4 deaths (26 deaths in total); During the week of August 11 to 17, the average was 4 deaths per day, with the highest number being recorded on August 12: 8 deaths. In this last week the daily average is again 3 deaths with a total of 24 in the last 7 days, 4 less than the previous week.
