Spain´s Covid Infection Rate Falls To Six Month Low
The latest figures published by the Spanish Health Ministry show that the 14-day cumulative number of coronavirus cases per 100,000 inhabitants has fallen to 175.63.
The figure represents the lowest since August of last year when the second wave was just at the beginning and massively below the peak of the third wave at the end of January when the national rate hit a high of 865.67 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
However the figure for the Madrid region remain the highest on the peninsula, although this too is falling rapidly.
Madrid´s 284,58 cases per 100,000 inhabitants is significantly higher the national average and well ahead of neigbours, Castilla y Leon and Castilla La Mancha with 171.07 and 103.65 respectively.
The government´s Covid-19 czar and director of the Health Ministry’s Coordination Center for Health Alerts (CCAES), Fernando Simón welcomed the fall in figures although he stressed that this was due to continued health measures and mobility restrictions in force throughout the country´17 autonomous communities.
He warned, however, that the rate was showing signs of slowing and therefore the present restrictions should not be relaxed. 
Some regional governments including Madrid´s have raised the possibility of relaxing some measures and even of opening up for the Easter break which begins at the end of March.
Madrid´s Mayor, José Luis Martínez-Almeida stressed that the decision will be made in light of infection rates as well as in co-ordination with other autonomous communities.
The Easter break is traditionally one of the busiest times for domestic trips and tourism.
The central government´s trigger for the pandemic to be of “extreme risk” is 250 cases per 100,000 inhabitants and has a target of 25 per 100,000 for the pandemic to be considered “under controL”.
The country’s intensive care units (ICUs) have a 28.09% occupation rate of Covid-19 patients out of a total of 9.36% of all hospitalizations.
To date, Spain has received 4,508,845 doses of Covid-19 vaccines of which 3,829,465 have been administered, including 1,261,848 of the all important second dose.
To date, Spain has offially recorded 3,204,531 cases of Covid-19 of whom 69,609 have resulted in deaths.
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