The rate of infections due to coronavirus has fallen throughout the province in recent days to the point that the Minister of Health, Ana Barceló, dared to point out on Tuesday that the virus curve has bent, despite concern about the The occupancy rate of the units with critical patients is still latent.

“There are still many people in the ICU, which is the hardest thing to cut down. We must continue to maintain prudence ", sentence the head of Health.

Onil and Pedreguer are among the few localities that exceed 500 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the province, the red line pre-established by the Ministry of Health as a reflection of the seriousness of the evolution of the pandemic by adding other aspects such as the occupation of ICUs cited by the councilor or the PCR tests carried out to detect positive cases.

The general improvement throughout the province in recent days is also reflected by the fact that of the fourteen localities that exceeded the aforementioned 500 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the previous data update, practically half have been taken off the hook and eight remain above said index, despite the fact that the vast majority of the values ​​have fallen by up to 300 points as has happened in Banyeres .

The rest of the towns are Xixona, Balones, Onil, Alcoleja, Monóvar, Pinoso and Elda. The latter two have improved the rate of the virus by about 100 points , and the incidence of infections has also decreased by more than a hundred points in Pinoso or Dolores.

In Elche and Alicante the contagion rate has fallen somewhat less but also drops between 30 and 40 points, from 262 to 233 and from 245 to 205 respectively.

Mobility

Barceló, after his visit to health centers in Castellón this Tuesday, stressed that “the fact that we are now descending is a trajectory of the virus, but things can jump up again at any time, especially due to mobility and family and social encounters , which continue to represent 96 percent of infections in outbreaks.

The daily update of the evolution of the pandemic in fact shows a significant increase in infections in the province, from the 147 detected after the weekend to 540 new cases in 24 hours, in addition to 17 deaths . In ICUs, however, the 94 admissions from the previous day are maintained, and those hospitalized are 16 fewer, from 418 to 402.

On the other hand, 55 outbreaks have been detected in the Community, 8 of them in the province: Elche, Callosa de Segura, San Miguel de Salinas, Castalla, Dènia, Albatera, Alcoy and Redován.

The councilor highlights her interest in that the measures during Christmas are the result of a "majority" agreement of the autonomous communities "so that there are no different Christmases." Remember that the Consell is committed to not holding the Kings parades "to avoid crowds" , as well as to open the perimeter of the Community on December 24, 25 and 31 and January 1, 5 and 6. The Valencian bet aims to keep social meetings at 6 people, and a maximum of 10 at family gatherings, although it remains to be determined whether it would be the group of cohabitants and another.

Ana Barceló concludes by weighing the need for us to continue to maintain all anticovid measures before the next bridge through the Immaculate Conception. “Now we are lowering the incidence and we have already rounded the curve. We are going to see if we are able to maintain this situation, taking into account that we have another bridge and that there will be mobility, even if it is within the Community.

PCR in areas with ventilation and filters in the masks

The thousand of health workers that have been infected in the Community by covid have been able to contribute, together with the complaint of the Nursing union before the Labor Inspectorate, in the rectification of the anticovid protocol by the Department of Health, which will finally include the use of masks with FFP2 filter for all health workers in direct contact with patients, whether or not they are positive. The union recalls that "most of the consultations, offices and rest rooms in health centers are small, without natural light and without ventilation", so it considers advisable "to establish collective protection measures such as portable HEPA filters or air purifiers ». They also miss partitions in the consultations. The sectoral commission on Occupational Health and Safety held yesterday also reported, among the changes announced for the protocols, that the areas for PCR are ventilated. In other words, coronavirus diagnostic tests cannot be done in corridors or areas with ventilation deficits in health centers.