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HEALTH-VIRUS-SPAIN
Spain’s virus death toll shoots past 1,300
MADRID, March 22, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Spain on Saturday reported a 32 percent
spike in new deaths from the coronavirus, bringing the country total to 1,326
fatalities, the second highest in Europe after Italy.
The number of infections across the country also shot up to 24,926, the
health ministry said in a statement.
The capital Madrid remains the hardest hit in the country, according to the
tally reported by the ministry.
“The cases are rising and are going to continue to rise in the coming
days,” ministry spokeswoman Maria Jose Sierra told journalists.
Nobody knew when the outbreak in Spain would peak, she added.
Those who had died were mainly people over 70 and particularly the over-
80s, she said.
“Nearly 70 percent of patients placed in intensive care units are more than
60 years old,” she added.
Nevertheless, between one and two percent of those hospitalised were under
20 years old.
The new numbers follow a fresh spike in both deaths and infections on
Friday.
Spain has issued lockdown orders for some 46 million people who are only
permitted to leave their homes for essential work, food shopping, medical
reasons or to walk the dog.
Around 2,800 soldiers have been mobilised to disinfect train stations and
airports and to bring help to elderly, vulnerable people, said General Miguel
Villarroya, chief of the defence staff.
Officials have distributed hundreds of thousands of surgical masks, adapted
hotels to treat the sick and produced hundreds of thousands of test kits.
Italy is Europe’s worst affected country in terms of death toll, followed
by Spain and France.
BSS/AFP/MSY/0940 hrs