Spain tops 100,000 Covid-19 infections, registers record death toll
By Clea House
Madrid Apr 1 (efe-epa).- Spain topped 100,000 coronavirus infections and registered its highest daily death toll Wednesday as health authorities race to deploy hospital beds to deal with the pressure of the pandemic.
It places Spain third in the grisly global rankings in terms of coronavirus cases, behind Italy and the United States and second in terms of fatalities behind Italy.
“The total number of cases soared to 102,136, with an increase of 7,719 in the past 24 hours,” María José Sierra, spokesperson of the Coordination Centre for Health Alerts and Emergencies, said at a press conference Tuesday.
Of those infections, 22,646 have recovered and 9,053 have died.
There are 5,872 people in intensive care, the expert added, and in the last 24 hours, 864 deaths were recorded in Spain, the highest death toll in the country to date.
Sierra pointed out that the situation today is a reflection of what happened two to three weeks ago, given there is a delay period from the point of infection to the manifestation of symptoms and the possible need for treatment.
“These are the figures we expected,” Sierra said.
Minister of the Interior Fernando Grande-Marlaska echoed Sierra’s views on Wednesday saying it was important to remember that “today’s fatalities were people that were infected before the confinement measures came into place.”
Health authorities said it was reassuring that 22 percent of reported infections had been discharged.
Fernando Simón, head of Spain’s centre for Health Emergencies, said: “The evolution of hospitalized cases and new ICU admissions is decreasing. It seems that we are already descending.
“Now the battle is to ensure our health system can offer treatment to everyone.”
The number of incoming patients needs to drop drastically, and the data seems to indicate things are moving in the right direction, although no certain statements can be made until the end of next week, Simón added.
Health Minister Salvador Illa said in a press conference on Monday that Spain “has entered a stabilization phase, and the objective this next week is to slow down.”
The minister added that the government had acquired several types of rapid testing kits which were being examined by experts.
Spain is now under pressure to increase its hospital bed capacity, particularly in ICUs, in order to face an expected surge in the number of patients requiring hospitalization in the coming days.
In the capital region of Madrid, 10 new ICUs came into operation at the makeshift field hospital erected in the massive Ifema convention center on the outskirts of the city.
The field hospital provides 5,500 beds, including 500 in ICU.
When fully operational, the makeshift emergency center will become the largest hospital in Spain.
There continues to be a great demand for material amid a shortage of respirators and personal protective equipment, such as suits and masks, according to reports from health officials.
