Health centers of the Andalusian Health Service (SAS) continue this week in phase 0 of the High Frequency Plan, with all provinces in this phase, which implies that the level of activity in them is within normal and expected values for this time of year. Currently, in Andalusia, 30 hospitals are in phase 0; nine centers in phase 1, six centers in phase 2, and five in phase 3.
The methodology for calculating the phases of the High Frequency Plan uses as a key indicator the week-to-week percentage variation of the number of emergencies treated in Andalusian hospitals. This indicator, compared with the regional average and standard deviation, has proven to be sensitive in identifying increases in demand. Thus, each phase reflects a growing level of activity: from normal values (phase 0), through stability (phase 1), moderate increases (phase 2), to sustained increases that could strain healthcare capacity (phase 3). This allows for the gradual activation of measures adapted to the expected healthcare pressure.
During the last week in Andalusia, a total of 92,575 hospital emergencies were recorded (85,976 the previous week). By provinces, Almería recorded 10,998 emergencies; Cádiz, 15,237; Córdoba, 7,958; Granada, 11,884; Huelva, 4,998; Jaén, 5,857; Málaga, 16,497; and Seville, 19,176.
During the 31-day period, emergencies attended in SAS public hospitals remained relatively stable, with a daily average of around 15,325 emergencies, with an average percentage of admitted emergencies of 6.6%.
Therefore, it is important to emphasize that health centers and healthcare professionals are prepared to handle any increase in demand that usually occurs at this time of year. However, Health wants to stress that it is not possible to know exactly on which day, at which specific center, there will be an exponential increase in the number of patients in Emergencies. It depends on multiple factors, such as population characteristics, recorded temperatures, circulating viruses… Therefore, there will be days or hours within the same day where a high number of patients will concentrate at the same time, causing the phases to change from week to week, which is the timeframe in which the plan’s evolution is analyzed.
Health wants to emphasize that healthcare centers and their professionals are prepared to handle any increase in demand, all patients are treated as quickly as possible, and the entire system is prepared to face any increase in demand.
Regarding information on the incidence of Acute Respiratory Infections (ARIs), according to the latest available data for week 7, the rate in Andalusia is 358.5 cases per 100,000 inhabitants (388.2 the previous week), confirming that the community remains in the descending phase of the flu epidemic, although there may be small fluctuations, with the peak of the epidemic occurring in week 3.
Vaccination data
Vaccination coverage in people over 60 years of age is 51.9% for flu. In children aged 6 to 59 months, coverage is 58.4%.
In total, 1,718,362 people have been vaccinated against the flu and 839,738 against COVID. The highest vaccination coverage rate is among the population of elderly people in residential centers, a population of about 46,000 people, with a vaccination rate of 88.8% for flu and 81.1% for COVID.
In total, in the 2024-2025 campaign, 46,475 children under six months have been immunized with nirsevimab, representing 95.1% of this target group and exceeding the coverage achieved in the first campaign. Thanks to the campaign against RSV, the number of hospitalized infants in Andalusia has decreased by 93%.