Changes

COVID-19 was responsible for 74,853 infections and 12,596 deaths in Catalonia (Catalunya/Cataluña) from 26 February to 30 June 2020. 20,958 infections and 4,260 deaths out of the total occurred in the city of Barcelona. In other words, whilst the capital city is home to just 21% of the population in Catalonia (Catalunya/Cataluña), it accounted for 28% of infections and 34% of deaths. Demographers have pointed out that the impact of the pandemic was so severe as to increase mortality rates and reduce life expectancy. In addition, there were further impacts on health, including a decline in fertility rates and a sharp reduction in foreign migrations, amongst others (Esteve ''et al. '' 2021).

The map on the ''[[:File:Incidence of COVID-19 and socioeconomic conditions |Incidence of COVID-19 and socioeconomic conditions]]'' shows the cumulative incidence of COVID-19 cases in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona in relation to the socioeconomic index in healthcare areas. This map confirms the situation pointed out in May 2020 by the Catalan Agency for Health Quality and Assessment (AQuAS, 2020): first, the most vulnerable groups in socioeconomic terms show higher incidence and mortality rates than those with higher socioeconomic conditions; second, from a regional perspective, some of the healthcare areas to register higher incidence were those with lower socioeconomic conditions. However, a positive correlation by socioeconomic conditions could not be identified between incidence rates and mortality.