In response to the rise in the number of Covid patients being admitted to intensive care, hospitals in the Balearics have increased the number of ICU beds. There are now 343 in all. Given the number of Covid patients in ICU at present (75), this has brought the Covid occupancy down to 21.8%; it was 26% on Thursday.
Spokesperson for the regional infectious diseases committee, Javier Arranz, says that the situation in ICU is not problematic. It is anticipated that the number of patients on wards will begin to fall from next week and that the number in ICU will follow. As it is, the number of patients on wards is 342, eleven lower than on Thursday.
Three more deaths were reported on Friday, giving a total of 877 since the start of the pandemic. Over the past seven days, there have been 17 deaths. Arranz says that the great majority have been people over the age of 75.
The 14-day cumulative incidence in the Balearics has fallen to 906, while the seven-day incidence is down to 345 - "practically a third," notes Arranz. "The incidence is clearly on the decline." He believes that there will be a more rapid fall in incidence than in previous waves. This has been happening in other regions.