Malaga hospitals have almost 62 per cent fewer coronavirus patients than a year ago

The number of patients in Malaga’s hospitals because of Covid-19 is significantly less than this time last year even though the omicron variant is more contagious than the variant faced in February 2021.

On 2 February 2021 there were 1,010 patients in the province’s hospitals at the height of the third wave of the pandemic. In February 2022, that number was 61.9 per cent less. On 5 February 2021 there were 935 patients, on 5 February 2022 there were just 356.

The sixth wave, which is starting to subside, was characterised by a high rate of infection to begin with compared to the Delta and Alpha variants. But pressure on hospitals is less because of the high rate of vaccination which reduces the risk of serious complications and death.

"With the high number of infections that the omicron variant has brought with it, luckily most of the population was vaccinated because otherwise the hospitals would have been filled and there would have been a higher number of deaths," said a public health expert.

In the sixth wave, the peak of intensive care patients was on 10 February 2021 with 129 cases. On 5 February there were 35 patients in intensive care, 72.8 per cent less. Likewise, the rate of hospitalisations in Andalucía is down by 60 percent compared to last year.

In the past 24 hours there have been 821 new infections in Malaga, six deaths and 1,613 patients who have recovered from Covid-19. In Andalucía, there were 4,818 new positives, 49 deaths and 8,555 recoveries.