Several experts warned, at the beginning of the summer, that an increase in cases of Coronavirus was being recorded.
The transmission of the virus had remained stable during the period leading up to 2023, but the curve began to rise at the beginning of July and did not stop doing so until the end of August. The mobility associated with the main holiday period of the year and the concentration of people at popular festivals in the summer months contributed to an increase in contagions.
In Sitges itself – and, by extension, also in Ribes – there was a clear uptick in cases after the Festa Major of Sant Bartomeu. It was noticed in consultations at the local medical centres (CAPs) and also in the sale of antigen test kits in pharmacies.
Where this tendency was also evident is at the Sant Camil Hospital. The Emergency Department has dealt with several consultations of patients with respiratory symptoms.
‘The majority ended up being confirmed as positive for Covid-19, although their admission to hospital was not necessary,’ said Olga Farré, director of Care Operations at the Ribes hospital, who also pointed out that the majority of patients who were admitted with Coronavirus was not due to any medical complications caused by the virus, but to other pathologies.
‘We identified some cases in the preliminary tests that we always do before admission. Patients tested positive but may have been asymptomatic. It is necessary to differentiate those admitted with Covid from those admitted because of Covid,’ said Farré.
Just 10 days ago, at the peak of the upsurge in cases in the region, there were 30 people admitted with Coronavirus in Sant Camil. Now there are three of them, among a total of approximately 150 patients. At the same time, consultations regarding Covid have also been reduced in the emergency department.
Neither the positives from previous weeks nor those currently admitted have had to go through the Intensive Care Unit. They were all treated at the hospital, because they had mild pneumonia. The patient profile often followed the same pattern: frail, elderly people with previous chronic pathologies. The same profile of the majority of people at risk during the peak of the pandemic.
Sant Camil’s forecast for the coming months is that, ‘if no new variant appears that is more lethal or contagious, and which is not included in any of the information issued by the Catalan Department of Health, the volume of cases should stay within the normal range of last autumn and winter’, as before the summer increase. For now, the summer peak in cases has been overcome and is now under control.
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