The number of Covid-19 cases fell by 95% between January and February in Spanish retirement homes, after the injection of second doses of vaccines began, according to a government report.
Read also: Covid-19: Spain crosses the threshold of three million cases
The retirement homes, where the first wave of the epidemic caused a massacre, thus identified 4,439 cases of Covid-19 between January 18 and 24, against 215 between February 15 and 21, indicates this unpublished report of the Institute of Seniors and Social Services (Imserso), a government-dependent body, published Tuesday evening.
The number of confirmed deaths from Covid-19 fell from 77% over the same period in Spanish retirement homes to 157 against 673.
This drastic drop in the number of cases and deaths in nursing homes coincides with the start of the administration in mid-January of the second doses of vaccines.
The vaccination campaign started at the end of December in Spain by residents of retirement homes and their nursing staff.
It also comes against the backdrop of a clear global decline in the number of cases in the country where the strengthening of health restrictions in recent weeks has made it possible to slow down the third wave of the epidemic.
In this report, the government also quantified for the first time at 29,408 the number of deaths from Covid-19 in retirement homes, confirmed by a test or suspected, since the start of the pandemic.
European country among the most affected by Covid-19, Spain has officially recorded a total of nearly 70,000 confirmed deaths and more than three million cases since the start of the pandemic.
The regions, responsible for health, already gave some of the number of deaths in retirement homes on their territory, but the government had been promising for months to give one for the whole country.
In early December, another government report estimated that between 47% and 50% of deaths in the first wave of the epidemic took place in nursing homes.
This massacre led to the filing by the relatives of the deceased of numerous complaints in court.
More than 1.2 million people have already received the two injections of a Covid-19 vaccine in Spain.
The government of Pedro Sanchez intends to vaccinate 70% of the 47 million inhabitants by the end of the summer.