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Spain's daily coronavirus death toll rises again

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Spain's daily coronavirus death toll rises again
Healthcare workers wearing protective suits tend patients in the ICU Vall d'Hebron Hospital in Barcelona. Photo: AFP

Spain recorded a second successive daily rise in coronavirus-related deaths with 757 fatalities, lifting the total toll to 14,555, the health ministry said Wednesday.

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The number of new infections in Spain grew to 146,690, up from 140,510, it added.

The number of new infections rose by 4.4 percent to 146,690, the health ministry said, as Spain has ramped up its testing for the disease.   

The number of daily deaths, which peaked on Thursday at 950, rose for the first time on Tuesday after falling for four straight days.    

But the rate of increase in both deaths and new infections on Wednesday was largely in line with that recorded the previous day, and half of what was recorded just a week ago.

"We have consolidated the slowdown in the spread of the virus," Health Minister Salvador Illa tweeted after the latest figures were published.   

Tuesday had been an increase of 743 over Monday, whilst Monday had seen the lowest daily increase in deaths (637) since March 24th.

 

 

The stats show that 48,021 people have now made a full recovery, which is 4,813 more than yesterday.

Of the official figures announced, 42,450 confirmed cases are known to be in the Madrid region, where 5,586 have died.

But it has emerged that the true number of fatalities from covid-19 in Spain could be far higher, after health authorities admitted that only those who died after testing positive to coronavirus where included in the official death toll. 

Many regional civil registries have warned that the number of death certificates issued, especially for those who died in elderly residential homes far surpasses the official death toll.

READ MORE:  Why Spain's true number of coronavirus deaths may be much higher than official figures


Coffins lined up at a morgue near Barcelona. Photo: AFP

The Spanish government on March 14th  imposed one of the toughest lockdowns in Europe to curb the spread of the virus, with people allowed out of their homes only to work, buy food and seek medical care.

The pandemic has stretched the country's public healthcare system close to breaking point, with a shortage of intensive care beds and equipments, but in recent days hospitals have said the situation has improved.

"We have observed a de-escalation at this hospital in particular, and I believe at all hospitals," the spokesman for the Hospital Severo Ochoa in Leganes near Madrid, Jorge Rivera, told AFP.

 

"We can't let down our guard, emergency services are now working below their full capacity and are working well, they are not saturated and overcrowded but it does not mean that we can relax and go to the emergency ward because you have an ailment."

 

 

 

 

The overall number of hospitalizations (blue), admittance into ICU (yellow) deaths (red) and recoveries (green) are shown in the chart below, which reveals that the curve of the number of hospital admittances is flattening. Data: Ministry of Health

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The breakdown of cases, hospitalizations, deaths and recoveries is outline in the tweet below:

 

 

 

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