Coronavirus deaths in Spain surge by a record 832 in 24 hours as toll hits 5,690 and ice rink turned into morgue – The Sun
SPAIN has registered a new record number of coronavirus deaths in a single-day period.
The number of deaths from Covid-19 in the past 24 hours is 832, it emerged on Saturday.
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It beats the previous Spanish record of 769 coronavirus deaths which was announced on Friday.
The grim statistic means 5,690 people with the virus have now died in Spain.
The number of new coronavirus cases registered in the past 24 hours is 8,000.
Spanish Ministry of Health figures show 72,248 people have been infected, 40,630 have needed to be hospitalised, 4,575 people have been admitted to intensive care and 12,285 people have been cured of the disease.
Only Italy’s single-day death tally is worse than Spain’s — with 969 dying there from coronavirus in the 24 hours between Thursday and Friday.
On Monday a second makeshift morgue is due to start functioning in Madrid, Spain’s worst affected area.
It comes after a retail centre ice rink became its first stop-gap body drop because of the saturation funeral parlours were facing.
The new temporary morgue, known locally as the Donut because of the way it looks from the sky, was built to be Madrid’s Institute of Forensic Medicine, but never opened.
Official figures also reveal the number of cases jumped to 64,059 — including thousands of victims working on the frontline.
On Thursday there were 655 recorded deaths while the day before there were 738.
The number killed is now second only to Italy, where 8,215 people have lost their lives.
Spain ranks fourth for the number of confirmed cases worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University.
There had been concerns it could become the new epicentre of the pandemic in Europe.
However, health emergency chief Fernando Simon said the numbers were showing some signs of stabilising since a lockdown was imposed earlier this month.
"In percentage terms, today's increase is roughly equivalent to that of the past three days, in which we seem to see a clear stabilisation," he said.
Particularly hard hit have been those working on day and night to fight the virus, the new figures reveal.
The number of health workers infected with the virus has now reached nearly 9,500.
On Tuesday the figure stood at 5,400, an increase of 1,490 on the previous day.
Today the authorities revealed 9,444 health workers have now tested positive for Covid-19.
The revelation, made by Fernando Simon, is a jump of around 4,000 in three days.
He said: “The number of health workers with coronavirus is a high figure, more than in other countries.
“It’s one of the concerns we have and we are working on it.”
Spain has been slammed for its handling of the pandemic and medics have complained about lack of protection.
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Earlier this week a doctors’ union accused the Health Ministry of breaching a legal obligation to provide medical staff with the material needed to fight the virus safely.
Spanish Civil Guard chief Jose Manuel Santiago also revealed the number of his officers currently infected stood at 282.
The number of National Police officers who had tested positive for Covid-19 stood at nearly 200 on Thursday.
The total number of police across Spain who are infected, including local town hall-employed police officers and officers from regional forces in places like Catalonia, is thought to be near the 1,000 mark.
Thousands more are said to be in quarantine, although the exact number has not been released.
On Thursday, we reported how Spain's healthcare system is on the brink of “collapse” with some patients waiting three days for beds.
Disturbing video and photos from hospitals in the capital Madrid and further south in Albacete showed patients, many hooked up to oxygen tanks, crowding corridors and emergency rooms.
At the 12 de Octubre University Hospital, patients could be seen on the floor as they waited for a bed in recent days.
The hospital says the patients have since been accommodated elsewhere.
“We are collapsing. We need more workers”, said Lidia Perera, a nurse who works at Madrid's Hospital de la Paz, which has 1,000 beds.
This week, 11 of the hospital's 14 floors are devoted to caring for those suffering from Covid-19, and there is still not enough room.
The patients with less serious cases of the disease are being put in the hospital's gym or in a large tent outside.
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