57% of coronavirus outbreaks involve teenagers and those in their 30s
79.3% of outbreaks originate in the social sphere, especially in gatherings of friend and family
Wednesday 4th July 2021 – PRESS RELEASE with Mike Smith
More than half of the cases associated with coronavirus outbreaks in the Comunidad Valenciana have occured in people between 15 and 34 years old, whilst more than 79% of outbreaks are triggered in the social sphere, especially in social gatherings with friends and family, according to the information published by the regional health ministry’s General Sub-Directorate of Epidemiology.
An analysis of the outbreaks registered during the first three weeks of July reveals that 57.2% of cases associated with them are in teenagers and people in their thirties, followed by the group of 35 to 64 years, which accounts for 23% of cases associated with outbreaks. As age increases, and therefore the vaccination coverage, the number of infections decreases.
The regional health secretary, Ana Barceló, explained that work carried out by 1,622 trackers has been consolidated by the incorporation of 500 more staff, including 50 from the Armed Forces, which will help in the monitoring the cases and alleviate the burden of work of the Primary Care team. “Furthermore, we have implemented the vacation and reinforcement plan for all levels of care, and we are accelerating the vaccination campaign in these population groups.”
Regarding the areas, the outbreaks associated with the social sphere continue to be the most common – 79.3% of outbreaks and 73.9% of the cases – and the majority have been found to have had an origin in gatherings of friends and family where the use of a mask and compliance with social distancing protocols had been relaxed.
“We gather around the table to eat and drink and, on occasions, we remove our mask and forget to raise it when we are not consuming. It may also happen that we do not keep our distance because we feel safe with our own people. But it is precisely with those close to you, and with those loved ones with whom we must be more careful to protect, that we must protect ourselves. Any oversight can cause infection.“
Small outbreaks, those which have a total number people affected less than 10, predominate at the moment, with 85.5% of new outbreaks affecting fewer than 10 people, 14.1% between 10 and 40 people, and 0.5% more than 40 cases.
Finally, the territorial distribution of outbreaks across the Comunidad Valenciana closely follows the population distribution: of the outbreaks reported in the last three weeks of July, 63% were recorded in the province of Valenciana, 24% in Alicante, and 13% in Castellón.
