Spain has suffered its deadliest day of the coronavirus outbreak, with 864 deaths in 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 9,053.
The number of people infected with Covid-19 jumped to 102,136 on Wednesday, making it the third country to surpass the 100,000 mark, behind the United States and Italy.
Health authorities are frantically trying to boost intensive care capacity in the country and the number of hospital beds has been increased nationally by 20%.
However, a glimmer of hope that the contagion rate is stabilising was spurred today, as the 24-hour increase of 7,719 was 1,500 fewer than the increase from the previous day.
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Spanish authorities have secured 1,500 extra ventilator machines and have asked local manufacturers to speed up production.
Hotels have been transformed into recovery rooms and sports centres and libraries have been turned into field hospitals in the worst-hit regions of Madrid and northeast Catalonia, where intensive care capacity has been almost tripled
The country is currently two-and-a-half weeks into a national lockdown, with 46 million people ordered to stay at home – aside from those in health care, food production and distribution, and other essential industries.
It comes as Europe struggles to take control of the pandemic, with several countries suffering hundreds of fatalities.
Italy’s death toll, already the highest in the world, increased by another 727 victims to 13,155 on Wednesday, while French authorities reported 509 deaths, taking the national total to 4,032.
Paris emergency worker Christophe Prudhomme said: ‘It feels like we are in a third world country. We don’t have enough masks, enough protective equipment, and by the end of the week we might be in need of more medication too.’
The UK also saw its biggest rise in deaths on Wednesday, with another 563 people passing away after contracting Covid-19, bringing the total to 2,352.
Other countries have stepped in to help hard-hit countries, with Cuba sending doctors to France and Turkey sending masks, hazmat suits, goggles and disinfectants to Italy and Spain.
More than 860,000 people have been confirmed infected with the virus worldwide and more than 42,000 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.
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