Spokesperson for the regional infectious diseases committee, Javier Arranz, has clarified why the number of deaths from coronavirus in the Balearics has increased from 781 last Monday to 815 this Monday.
Arranz told a press conference on Monday that these deaths mostly all correspond to a review of the mortality register for January and February. The health service, he explained, routinely reviews the mortality records in order to be as comprehensive as possible in establishing whether deaths are as a result of Covid or not. When there is confirmation, the statistics are forwarded to the national centre for health alerts and emergencies. It is at this point that the figure for fatalities from Covid in the Balearics is updated.
The deaths in January and February, Arranz said, were of people over the age of 75 who were not residents of care homes. As the intention is to be as comprehensive as possible, "it is not an overnight task". "From time to time the figures are updated. The majority over recent days are from the beginning of February, and there will be more."
In terms of the daily reporting of coronavirus information, the ministry has confirmed ten new deaths. Nine of these are from the review. One was registered on Sunday. The total number of deaths is now 815.
Otherwise, the Monday report indicates 75 new positive cases over a 48-hour period - 40 for the past 24 hours and 35 for the previous. Of the 40 cases, 38 were in Mallorca; there was one in both Ibiza and Minorca. These gave a test rate of 2.95% from 1,355 tests. Of the 35 cases, 30 were in Mallorca. There were three in Ibiza and two in Minorca.
The number of Covid patients on wards in Mallorca has risen from 23 in Saturday's report to 30. There are eleven patients in Ibiza. The number of patients in intensive care in Mallorca is down one to 13 and up one in Minorca to two. There are four patients in Ibiza.
Two more patients have been discharged from hospital and a further 73 people have recovered. The health service in the Balearics is attending to a total of 913 active cases, three fewer than on Saturday, while primary care in Mallorca is monitoring 700 people - six fewer.
The 14-day cumulative incidence of new cases per 100,000 is down from 62.46 to 61.42 in the Balearics and from 55.80 to 55.24 in Mallorca. The seven-day incidence is up from 30.19 to 30.28 in the Balearics and up from 24.78 to 26.34 in Mallorca.
As to vaccination, 297,129 doses have been administered in the Balearics; 233,643 in Mallorca. There are 75,292 people who have received two doses in the Balearics; 61,217 in Mallorca.