Talk:Epidemiological indicators

The COVID-19 pandemic in Spain. First wave: from the first cases to the end of June 2020

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Thematic structure > The COVID-19 pandemic in Spain > Overview > Epidemiological indicators

Statistical graph: Evolution in the number of COVID-19 cases, hospital admissions and admissions to ICUs due to COVID-19 during the first wave of the pandemic. 2020. Spain.PDF. Datos.

The number of COVID-19 cases is the indicator that most accurately reflects the epidemiological situation at any given time, whilst the data on hospital admissions and deaths are shown with a certain time lag. However, all these data are influenced by the limited diagnosis capacity during the initial phase of the pandemic.

73,103 COVID-19 cases were registered in the province of Madrid during the first wave of the pandemic as well as 46,989 in the province of Barcelona and around 8,000 in the provinces of Biscay (Bizkaia), Navarre (Navarra), Valencia and Ciudad Real. The month of March was the period that registered the greatest increase in absolute terms. In relative terms, however, there was a clear concentration in the provinces of Biscay (Bizkaia), Álava, La Rioja, Navarre (Navarra), Barcelona, Lleida, Cáceres and the provinces of Castile and León (Castilla y León) and Castile-La Mancha (Castilla-La Mancha), where the cumulative incidence was very high. The data for the provinces of Ciudad Real, Albacete and the axis linking Salamanca-Madrid-Navarre (Navarra) (between 1,000 and 3,000 cases per 100,000 inhabitants) are particularly noteworthy, reaching in some cases five times the national average figure (577.8). The territories with the lowest cumulative incidence in absolute and relative terms were Asturias, Badajoz, Murcia, Andalusia (Andalucía) and the Canary Islands (Canarias).

The impact of the first wave of the pandemic amongst healthcare professionals was very high, i.e. one in five cases were healthcare workers. Also, a large part of this impact fell on women, as the group of healthcare professionals is largely female. These noteworthy data could be linked to the difficulties in supplying personal protective equipment at the beginning of the pandemic, the initial lack of knowledge on how the virus itself behaved and the easier access to diagnosis for healthcare professionals. The peak time of infection amongst healthcare professionals was in March. The figures showing the number of healthcare workers infected during the first wave of the pandemic were high, i.e. 15,344 cases in the province of Madrid, 3,354 in the province of Barcelona, around 2,000 in the province of Biscay (Bizkaia), and 1,000 in the provinces of Valencia and Ciudad Real. In proportional terms (infected healthcare workers compared to the total number of cases), provinces such as Biscay (Bizkaia), Álava, Cuenca and Granada (between 20 and 25%) were more than 5 percentage points higher than the national average (15.3%), and some others, like Asturias, Tarragona, Guadalajara and Santa Cruz de Teneriffe (Santa Cruz de Tenerife), were even higher than 25%.

The provinces with the highest hospital admission rates due to COVID-19 (hospital admissions due to COVID-19 per 100,000 inhabitants) during these months were Madrid, Ciudad Real, Albacete, Soria and Segovia. This pattern matches well the distribution of cumulative incidence as the figures (between 500 and 800) were double that of the national average (232.8). The rest of the provinces of Castile and León (Castilla y León), Castile-La Mancha (Castilla-La Mancha), as well as Biscay (Bizkaia), Álava, Navarre (Navarra) and La Rioja also registered higher figures than the national average. On the other hand, these rates were lower in the coastal provinces of the North-West and South. In absolute figures, almost 40,000 hospital admissions were reached in the province of Madrid, 18,000 in Barcelona and around 3,000 in Biscay (Bizkaia), Valencia and Ciudad Real.

The cumulative number of admissions to Intensive Care Units (ICU) due to COVID-19 peaked in the province of Madrid with 3,105, Barcelona with 1,373 as well as Valencia, Alicante and Saragossa (Zaragoza) with around 300 each. In proportional terms (those admitted to the ICU with respect to those admitted to hospital due to COVID-19), the distribution was inverted with respect to the previous variable. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria stood out with the highest percentage, i.e. over 20%.

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  Map: COVID-19 cases during the first wave of the pandemic. 2020. Spain.PDF. Datos.
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  Map: Healthcare workers infected with COVID-19 during the first wave of the pandemic. 2020. Spain.PDF. Datos.
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  Map: Hospital admissions due to COVID-19 during the first wave of the pandemic. 2020. Spain.PDF. Datos.
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  Map: Admissions to ICUs due to COVID-19 during the first wave of the pandemic. 2020. Spain.PDF. Datos.