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Flu epidemic strikes Spain

The number of flu cases in Spain has tripled over the course of a week, causing 20 deaths across the country, with the number of cases set to rise even further in the coming weeks.

Published: 23 January 2015 10:39 CET

Flu epidemic strikes Spain

Photo of someone with the flu/a>: Shutterstock

Spain is in the grip of a flu epidemic, with figures well surpassing the average expected at this time of year, according to the latest figures released by Spain´s influenza monitoring service.

There have been 212.8 cases per every 100,000 people, three times more than the 88.9 per 100,000 cases registered last week.

All ages have being affected but the number of cases in under-15s has increased especially rapidly, according to Spanish daily, 20 minutos.

There have been “an excess of flu-related deaths” for this time of year, concentrated on the over-64s, the statement says.

The worst-hit areas are currently Asturias, Castile and León, the west of Castile La Mancha and the north of Andalusia.

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Germany tops 40,000 virus deaths as Merkel warns of 'hardest weeks'

An empty shopping street in the city of Stralsund, which was preparing for a stricter lockdown on Sunday. Photo: Stefan Sauer/dpa

Germany recorded 465 deaths over the past 24 hours, the Robert Koch Institute for disease control said, raising the toll since the start of the pandemic to 40,343.

More than 1.9 million people have been infected so far, with almost 17,000 new cases added since Saturday.

In her weekly video message on Saturday, Merkel said the full impact of socialising over the Christmas and New Year's period was yet to show up in the statistics.

She warned Germans that “these next winter weeks will be the hardest phase of the pandemic” so far, with many doctors and medical staff working at their limits.

Germany fared better than many other European countries during the first Covid-19 wave in the spring but it has been hit hard by the second wave.

The nation of 83 million people, the bloc's most populous, has imposed another round of restrictions to limit social contacts and help hospitals cope with a surge in patients.

More than 5,000 Covid-19 patients are currently in intensive care nationwide, with over 80 percent of intensive care beds occupied.

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Germany has closed schools and non-essential shops, culture and leisure facilities until at least January 31 in hope of slowing the outbreak.

Like other EU nations, it started vaccinating citizens against Covid-19 in late December using the Pfizer/BioNTech jab.

More than half a million people have received the jab so far.

A second vaccine, developed by US firm Moderna, will join the rollout in the coming days.

'Absolutely necessary'

Merkel acknowledged the vaccine campaign had got off to a slow start, “but the tempo will pick up”, she said.

“What's important is that we can say: we will have enough of the vaccine available for everyone in Germany,” she added.

“Month after month we will inoculate more people and eventually we will be able to offer the vaccine to anyone who wants it.”

Merkel said the vaccines allowed for “justified hope” that the world could conquer the pandemic.

But she urged Germans to stay patient and said she was “firmly convinced” the current tough curbs on public life are “absolutely necessary”.

A survey by the Kantar research group for Bild am Sonntag newspaper found that 56 percent of Germans agreed with the latest measures to stem the virus spread.

Another 25 percent of respondents said the restrictions did not go far enough. Just 16 percent said the rules were too strict.

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