Dr. Javier Arranz, spokesperson for the regional infectious diseases committee in the Balearics, believes that 40% of the Balearic population may have had Covid.
Referring to a World Health Organization forecast in January of 50% of the European population being infected by Omicron within two months, Arranz notes that this was for the entire EU and so included countries with lower vaccination rates than in the Balearics and Spain. He doesn't believe that this percentage applies in the Balearics but that 40% is possible because of unreported and asymptomatic cases.
He accepts that it is "difficult" to specify a number. The great spread of the Omicron variant in the Balearics occurred towards the end of December, since when nearly 110,000 cases have been registered. However, and as he stresses, a significant number of cases - up to two-thirds, studies have indicated - have been reinfections.
The head of microbiology at Son Espases Hospital, Antonio Oliver, explains that the Delta variant is no longer circulating in the Balearics, and so 100% of cases are Omicron. Of these, 39% are the BA.2 subvariant. This behaves in a similar way to the original variant. The characteristics are similar, but it is more transmissible.
Arranz explains that there is still not enough information to know if immunity generated by having had Omicron serves to protect against the new subvariant. Natural protection, as well as that from the vaccine, does not last long.
The fact that acquired immunity decreases could be a reason for a new wave of infections in coming months. Arranz says that this this can always happen because vaccines stop working even with the third dose. "We will have to see how it evolves." There is the risk, he adds, that a new, more infectious strain will appear.
Oliver believes that making predictions with this virus is problematic. "I don't dare to predict anything." However, he does feel that 2022 will see the end of the pandemic, "as we have known it".
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I don´t really care about the statistics anymore. It is over and done with and soon indoor mask wearing will be abolished. Let´s try and forget this crazy period a.s.a.p.
Having been tracking the figures for 2 years given out by both the UK and Spanish, for my own comparison, have seen vast differences in numbers with similar government web sites. The daily testing positive for Mallorca differ by up to 50 from 3 different sources, and how the number of vaccinations for total differs from adding the "one" jab to the "two" jab can be more I have failed to understand. So take the figures with a pinch of salt as each side use their own for their own purposes. Statistics, statistics and even more lies.
There is a substantial amount of Data Caos with regard to the Corona figures this has been initiated in many ways by the politicians who jumped the question to get a shot before others and then some of them denied having gotten the shot then the other politicians who found out about this question jumping said nothing or said there would be an investigation which never happened all these figures are just numbers they don't mean anything it's meant to create a impression that the government is fully under control .
Cat, if the figure is 80% then given the lethality figures published around 24,000 people will have perished from covid. At 40% it would be 12,000. The data that is fired at us seems rather dubious if 40% of the population is roughly 400,000 at a kill rate of 2% then the death toll should be 8,000 ! What the hell is going on??
Way more than that. Try 60% or more.
40%?!? Easily 80% of the people I know here in Mallorca have tested positive for covid.