- 27 municipalities now have more than 1,000 cases per 100,000 inhabitants
- Cheste asks the Generalitat for help as the authorities consider complete confinement
The situation is very worrying in many parts of the Valencian Community on the day before New Year’s Eve with 27 municipalities, twelve more than in the last update, soaring to more than 1,000 coronavirus cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
The Covid-19 traffic light used by the government as an indication of the risks, indicates an extreme risk when the incidence of accumulated cases in the last two week period is greater than 250 positives per 100,000 inhabitants.
Currently in the Community there are 211 municipalities with an incidence of more than 250 cases, but the focus is on the 27 localities that have exceeded a cumulative total of more than 1,000 positives per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days.
In the general area of the Vega Baja the situation is well under control, although there are one or two municipalities and towns that give some cause for concern.
Alicante/Alacant currently shows an incidence of 269.05 per 100,000 while in Almoradi the situation is rather worse at 355.72 per 100,000.
Elsewhere, however, ten towns in the Vega Baja, chosen at random, are well within the guidelines set.
Guardamar del Segura (182.43), Orihuela (136.93), Pilar de la Horadada (41.09), Redován (152.5) Rafal (111.16), Rojales (53.06), San Fulgencio (50.92), San Miguel de Salinas (198.87), Santa Pola (154.77), Torrevieja (64.80)
Situation elsewhere in Valencian Community
The highest cumulative incidence is in Mata de Morella, with a rate of 3,614.46 cases per 100,000 inhabitantsin the last 14 days. The inland town of Castellón, with 166 inhabitants, has confirmed six cases in the last 14 days.
The situation in El Verger, with 116 cases in the last two weeks, with a population of 4,640 people, continues to cause concern as it has an incidence of 2,500 positives per 100,000 inhabitant, ten times the number considered to be an extreme risk. Almost all of the cases have occurred in one nursing home, however, with an outbreak that has devastated residents and staff.
The other municipality in the Region that currently exceeds the incidence of 2,000 is Fontanars dels Aforins (2,265), with 22 cases.
Between 1,000 and 2,000 cases per 100,000 inhabitants there are another 24 municipalities in the Community : Algimia de Alfara (1,879), Forcall (1,720), Albocàsser (1,450), Llosa de Ranes (1,426), Anna (1,369), Jarafuel (1,326) , Guadasequies (1,282), Canals (1,273), La Romana (1,232), Rotglà i l’Enova (1,230), Montaverner (1,226), Alfarrasí (1,224), Sella (1,206), Vistabella del Maestrazgo (1,179), Real de Gandia (1,178), Soneja (1,174), El Toro (1,171), Rótova (1,159), Ayora (1,148), Pedralba (1,115), Titaguas (1,103), Genovés (1,090), Villargordo del Cabriel (1,018) and Caudete de the Sources (1,000).
The incidence in the interior of the province of Castellón, in the Ayora Valley and in the area of the Xàtiva health department has skyrocketed and there are towns that are experiencing a second wave that is posing a situation that is far worse than the first..
Although their count has remained below 1,000 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, Cheste is experiencing a distressing situation as infections will not decrease. The mayor of the town, José Morell, has sent a letter to the Ministry of Health in which he even raises the possibility of confinement of the entire town if necessary.
Cheste has asked the Generalitat for help to control the situation, to provide all the personnel and material necessary to try to control infections.
The mayor says that he has reached the limit of his powers in the adoption of measures and despite having controlled 85% of the traceability of positive cases, the situation does not improve. Although, according to official figures, the incidence is 953 positives per 100,000 inhabitants, an internal note from the health centre reports that it could be closer to 2,000 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
In Canals, the situation is not improving either and the cumulative incidence continues to increase with 1,273 positives per 100,000 inhabitants. In the last two weeks, it has registered 173 positives in a population of 13,587 people.
As stated above, currently in the Community there are 211 municipalities in a situation of extreme risk, with an incidence of more than 250 positives per 100,000 inhabitants.
The authorities are saying that it is the Constitution long weekend and the Christmas holidays that have fuelled the outbreaks, most of them of social origin, and right now two out of ten Valencians who undergo a PCR or antigen test are finding themselves positive.
The positivity rate, of almost 23% in the last assessment of the Community published by the Ministry of Health, causes extreme concern in the face of hospital pressure. This rate is currently the highest in Spain.
