Balearic health minister Patricia Gómez. | Teresa Ayuga

TW
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The Balearic health ministry Patricia Gómez said on Wednesday that hospital admissions for patients with Covid-19 are expected to increase this week. These admissions, she noted, will include patients in intensive care units.

The minister explained that 253 people with Covid have been admitted to hospitals in the Balearics; 39 of these patients are in ICUs. There had been eleven more admissions over the last 24-hour period; two were for intensive care. Gómez added that there is capacity to meet demand - 1,400 hospital beds and 315 ICU beds - but stressed the need for measures to be taken. She appealed for the public to be responsible, especially people who are isolating.

Over the past two to three days, the minister suggested, the number of positive cases of coronavirus per day had stabilised - around 250 to 260. But the figure was still too high, and so it was too early to indicate if the situation with infections had stabilised. The "positivity rate" remains around ten per cent. In March-April, this was 1.3%. Gómez pointed out that there are now many more young people testing positive as well as asymptomatic cases.

She emphasised the need to limit the number of social events to a minimum, as it is these which are producing most of the positive cases.