A total of 3,434 coronavirus patients have now have died in Spain – more than the recorded number of deaths in China where the outbreak began.
Spain now has the world’s second-highest tally of COVID-19 deaths after 738 more were reported on Wednesday, the country’s deadliest toll in one day.
With 3,434 coronavirus patients dead, Spain surpassed China’s toll of 3,285.
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Italy still has the most deaths of any nation in the world at 7,503, with 683 deaths added to its total on Wednesday.
The number of confirmed cases in Italy stands at more than 74,000.
France – another of Europe’s worst-hit nations – also reported 231 more deaths over the same 24-hour period, taking its total to 1,331 deaths.
The country has had 22,654 confirmed cases of COVID-19.
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Infections in Spain rose 20% from a day earlier to 47,610.
Hotels in the country are being converted into hospitals and an ice rink in capital Madrid is being used as a temporary morgue to store bodies until they can be buried or cremated.
An investigation has begun after soldiers disinfecting nursing homes discovered elderly people living amid the corpses of suspected coronavirus victims.
The Spanish army has asked fellow NATO countries for coronavirus testing kits, ventilators and protective gear.
The country has said health care workers account for more than 14% of its infections.
Later on Wednesday, Spain’s parliament is set to extend the country’s lockdown by prolonging a state of emergency until 11 April.
Spain’s central bank expressed fears for the state of the country’s economy following the coronavirus outbreak.
Businesses in the country have already started to temporarily lay off thousands of workers.
In a statement, the Bank of Spain said: “There is little doubt about the severity of the shock, which has radically altered the real and financial dynamics of the Spanish economy since early March.”
Elsewhere in Europe, Germany’s parliament is set to approve a series of measures that will allow the government to offer aid totalling more than a trillion euros (£900bn) for its 83 million-strong population.
According to Johns Hopkins University, there have been more than 435,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus around the world, with more than 19,600 deaths.
China has the most confirmed cases with more than 81,500, Italy second with more than 69,000 and the US third with more than 55,000, the Johns Hopkins figures show.
The World Health Organisation has said the number of global coronavirus cases is expected to increase “considerably”.
