Two Alicante Hospitals Now Recommend Mask Usage Following Flu Surge

At least two hospitals in the province of Alicante are now advising patients and visitors to wear masks when entering their facilities. These include the General Hospital of Alicante and Torrevieja, along with the General Hospital of Valencia. This preventive measure is being implemented by these health departments due to the surge in respiratory virus cases, with flu cases rising by 115% following the festive season. Read more.

Each department follows the guidelines of the Preventive Medicine unit, which assesses the incidence of flu and other viruses at any given time. An increase in cases prompts this recommendation to help curb the spread of infections.

The Ministry of Health explains that these decisions are made by each department and vary according to peaks in incidence, meaning other hospitals may request mask usage from their users in the coming weeks.

Thus, the incidence of total respiratory infections remains stable—having grown by 2%—and stands at 905.7 compared to 877.3 a week ago. This rate is 45.6% lower than a year ago when cases were at 1,318.7.

Nevertheless, positive cases in the Valencian Community remain above the national average of 567.1 cases, with the most affected age group still being children under four years, although it has decreased to 2,423.4 cases from 3,259.5 cases the previous week. Conversely, this week sees an increase in positive cases among those over 65 years, reaching 1,031.6 cases.

Meanwhile, the rate of respiratory infections requiring hospital admission in the Valencian Community has decreased by 35% in the last week to 18.3 cases, compared to 28 cases a week ago, and is nearly three times lower than last year when the rate was 49.2.