The Spaniards are almost locked up in their homes and hope that the culmination of the Corona epidemic will finally be reached in their country. But so far, the numbers are growing dramatically. Now the country has even more deaths than China - as the second country in Europe.
Madrid (dpa) - Despite all measures in the fight against the corona virus, Spain has now reported more deaths than China. By Wednesday noon, the death toll had risen to 3,434, after just under 2,700 the day before, as the health authorities in Madrid said.
After Italy, Spain is the second country that has overtaken China in the number of victims. There the number was around 3150 on Wednesday. To what extent the official statistics reflect the true situation there and how high the number of unreported cases is unclear.
In Madrid alone, the epicenter of the epidemic in Spain, the number of deaths increased by almost 300 to more than 1,800 within 24 hours. More than half of all deaths were thus recorded in the capital.
Overall, the number of infected climbed to 47,600 - almost 8,000 more than on Tuesday. 14,600 cases were registered in Madrid alone, followed by Catalonia with almost 10,000 cases. 5300 patients nationwide are already healthy again. The authorities also hope that the climax of the crisis will be reached this week thanks to the strict measures with far-reaching restrictions on freedom of movement for the almost 47 million Spaniards.
The head of the Health Emergency Agency (CCAES), Fernando Simón, tried to reassure the population: "The number of deaths is increasing, but the percentage increase has stabilized." This means that Spain is no longer far from the national peak of the crisis. Many hospitals - especially in Madrid - are already at their limit.
For example, the Ifema exhibition center and several hotels have been used as hospitals for days in order to be able to treat the patients at all. Due to the many deaths, the ice rink in Madrid also had to be converted into a morgue because the funeral directors are completely overloaded.
The strict exit restrictions have been in effect since March 15 and should initially apply for 15 days. In the afternoon, Parliament should vote to extend the alert and tough measures until April 11th.
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Spanish television report