Spain’s Andalucia & Costa del Sol at ‘high’ risk of a second Covid-19 wave warns Health Ministry as entire region qualifies for Phase 1 deescalation

Spain’s Health Ministry has today warned that the risk of a second wave of Covid-19 infections across Andalucia and Costa del Sol is ‘high,’ despite the whole region now qualifying for Phase 1 of de-escalation. Malaga and Granada just got the go ahead to join the rest of the region in Phase 1 of de-escalation this evening (as reported).

However, Fernando Simón, Director of the Centre of Cooordination for Emergencies at the Health Ministry is now concerned that Andalucia is at very “high risk” of being struck by a second wave of Covid-19 infections. The ‘R’ rate of infection per person has increased to more than 1.14, after days of being under 1, according to the Ministry of Health. The average rate of infection for Spain is 0.7, however it’s higher in some regions than others.

The exact rate of infection is 4.04 cases for each 100,000 in Andalucia. Although this figure is 10 times less than areas like Navarra, Castilla and Leon, and Catalonia and Madrid, it’s still of concern, said Simón. In the last few hours, Andalucia has detected 42 new cases of Covid-19 by PCR – the same as yesterday – but much higher than last week.

However, the Andalucian government has confirmed that it has a strong contingency plan and is well-prepared should a second wave of Covid-19 strike the region in the near future (as reported).